At this time, even Cheng Qianli looked surprised and said, "Little brother Wang, was it your brother Wang who made these whip marks?"
Yuchi Yao said bitterly: "Who else besides him?"
Bi Sichen asked curiously: "Aren't you and Yuchi Sheng brothers? Everyone in the Western Regions says that you are brothers and sisters, how could you..."
Yuchi Yao said: "We are indeed brothers, but my mother-in-law died in childbirth when I was born. Yuchi Sheng resented me for this. Our grandfather died young. Since he became the king of Khotan, he has bullied me in private. He has never stopped, but he behaves extremely friendly to others."
Bi Sichen's eyes widened and he said, "I didn't expect this Yuchi Sheng to be so vicious."
Wang Tao was much more careful than Bi Sichen. He stepped forward to inspect the whip marks on Yuchi Yao's body, and saw new wounds superimposed on old wounds. Wang Tao was an official in Jiezhen and had seen many kinds of scars. After the scars formed, they would It swells up first and then slowly calms down, and the color will also change from dark to light. Therefore, it can be judged from the appearance of the scar that the whip marks on Yu Chi Yao's body are definitely not fake. The oldest scar is no less than ten years old. It is estimated that it is the first day of Yu Chi Sheng's life. When practicing the country Zuo.
Wang Tao turned to Cheng Qianli and said, "Deputy Captain, this injury is real."
Cheng Qianli smiled at Yuchi Yao and said, "Even if Yuchi Sheng really abuses you, it does not mean that he is not loyal to the Tang Dynasty. If you kill your brother, it is a serious crime of treason. How can we help you?"
Yuchi Yao said: "Deputy Protector Cheng, don't you want evidence that Yuchi Sheng colluded with Tubo and conspired to rebel against the Tang Dynasty? Why lie? I can give you the truth!"
This was really an unexpected surprise. Wang Tao said happily: "Yu Chi Sheng really has the intention to rebel against the Tang Dynasty... Oh, oh, that's right... He can hide the matter of abusing his brothers so deeply, so naturally he can also hide the matter of colluding with Tubo. Hidden in the same way.”
Yuchi Yao said: "I know a secret passage into the palace that can avoid all guards. You follow me into the city. I will give you the evidence that Yuchi Sheng rebelled against the Tang Dynasty. Then you can help me kill this thief and seize the throne."
Not to mention Wang Tao, Bi Sichen was also excited. Bi Sichen said to Cheng Qianli: "Deputy Protector, we can do this!"
If according to what Yuchi Yao said, they can obtain the same benefits as the previously conceived scam without any need to lie this time, why not do it?
Cheng Qianli glanced at Tuoba Yao several times before finally making up his mind, clapped his thighs and stood up, saying, "Then please ask Brother Wang to lead the way."
Cheng Qianli winked, and a group of officers and soldiers surrounded Yuchi Yao. They seemed to be surrounding him and going downstairs, vaguely intending to monitor him.
Dugu Xiang asked Jiang Shuo softly: "Brother Shuo, do you think Yuchi Yao is telling the truth?"
Jiang Shuo said: "It sounds like a lie, but the scars on his body should be real. He can't hide it from the experienced Anxi military officers by lying."
Dugu Xiang said: "When something goes wrong, there must be monsters. Let's follow them to see what's going on."
Jiang Shuo said: "If Yuchi Yao lied to them, we must protect his brothers. If Yuchi Sheng really colludes with Tubo and intends to rebel, we cannot let him go."
Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang used the skill of a gecko to crawl across the wall and quietly returned to the alley. They saw that Cheng Qianli and his party had remounted their horses, still surrounding Yuchi Yao. Yuchi Yao had a small guard of his own. He said to the captain of the guard: "There is a secret report from Anxi. Deputy Protector Cheng and I are going to meet Brother Wang. You don't have to follow."
The guards looked at each other. This place was obviously a wine shop. They were originally escorting the king's brother here, but as soon as he climbed up the stairs, he brought a group of Tang Army Jie Town officers down. If there really was any secret military affairs, how could they hand it over in a wine shop? But they didn't dare to disobey Brother Wang's words. The captain of the guard crossed his arms and took the order, leading the guards back to the mansion. .z.
Yuchi Yao waited for them to turn the corner and then said to Cheng Qianli: "Let's go, follow me..."
Yuchi Yao and the officers of Zhongjie Town were riding tall horses from the Western Regions. They ran very fast. They drove away the residents of the city and galloped towards the center of Khotan. Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang did not dare to perform the magical light skill of walking through the stars in the crowd. Once they attracted the attention of the crowd and started making noise, the knights in front would immediately turn around and notice.
The two could only pull up their hoods and track the cavalry as fast as possible without attracting attention. Fortunately, there are quite a few people riding horses in the city at the moment.
, but there was no second team running together like them. Therefore, although Shuo and Xiang were left far behind, they could still follow closely by following the clear hoof prints on the ground.
Following the horse team, they made seven turns and eight turns. Along the way, the road ahead became more and more depressing. There were more and more earthen walls like square walls on both sides. There were fewer and fewer merchants open for business. The two of them could run quickly with a little peace of mind. a paragraph.
Dugu Xiang said curiously: "Brother Shuo, this Khotan City is so strange. Other cities tend to be more prosperous and lively as they get closer to the palace. Why does this Khotan City feel more and more deserted the further you go?"
The two of them have been to the two major capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang. Whether it is the east and west cities of Chang'an or the north and south cities of Luoyang, they are all close to the palace city and the gathering place of local dignitaries.
Jiang Shuo said: "I think it may be because the transactions in the markets of Chang'an and Luoyang are mainly to sell various rare and rare treasures to the princes and nobles of the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, it is close to where they live. Some. However, there are few Han merchants in the city of Khotan. The market opened is mainly for Hu merchants to exchange the goods they carry. Since they are not doing business with the princes and ministers of Khotan, of course they open their shops within the city walls. It’s better to stay away from the royal city.”
At this moment, both sides of the street became uniform six-foot-high earthen walls, which seemed to vaguely surround each lane.
Jiang Shuo said: "Seeing these earthen walls reminds me of the Stone Castle, except that the Stone Castle is made of stone, and this one is made of rammed earth, but they are all the same twists and turns."
From a distance, they saw a section of high wall protruding from behind the forest of low walls and low buildings in the city. There were taller cylindrical watchtowers on all sides, and figures could be seen lining up to patrol the city. I think that is the palace city of Khotan.
Dugu Xiang smiled and said: "No wonder the outer city wall of Khotan was built so hastily. The large outer wall is just for the convenience of collecting taxes from merchants. The inner part close to the royal city is built like the inner square of the Central Plains city. , I’m afraid it’s used to strengthen the palace’s defense.”
The two of them sighed while moving forward. At this moment, there were almost no pedestrians on the street. No matter whether they were merchants or traders, they could finally use their lightness skills and sprint forward with confidence.
However, when they were still a square away from the palace wall, they saw horse hoof prints disappearing at the gate of a square. The two jumped into the wall, but saw neither people nor horses.
There were several houses in the courtyard. The two of them checked briefly and found that they were all empty and uninhabited. There was a sloping entrance like a mine shaft in one room. Looking inside, they saw a dark underground river, and the water surface was illuminated by fire. Get sparkling.
The entrance was so tall that it could accommodate a person riding a horse. Jiang Shuo took a step forward and was about to enter. Dugu Xiang held him back and said, "Be careful of them ambush below."
Jiang Shuo said: "Even if there is an ambush, there is no need to be afraid."
He had just watched the generals draw their swords, and already knew that these people were just martial artists. In terms of kung fu, only Cheng Qianli was considered a master. If not, Cheng Qianli's kung fu would not be enough to compare with Jiang Shuo's. Dugu Xiang thought about it That's right, so he followed Jiang Shuo down the slope.
The two stepped into an underground river, which was flowing rapidly. The tunnels of the underground river were half natural and half man-made. There were torches inserted every fifty steps on the stone wall. Yuchi Yao lit these torches all the way. It was still not extinguished at this moment. The two of them followed the torch and did not hear the footsteps of the crowd. It seemed that they had passed the underground river and had gone very far.
Although the current in the underground river was fast, it was also clear and shallow. The two of them jumped forward on the pebbles in the river that were exposed above the water. Dugu Xiang suddenly said "Huh", pointed to the water and asked, "What is this shiny thing?"
Jiang Shuo also saw stars in the water, like stars falling upside down, and felt strange. Dugu Xiang reached into the water and fished out a pebble-like white stone. He looked close to the torch and saw that the fire almost penetrated the white stone. It's refreshing and transparent, something I've never seen before in my life.
Dugu Xiang said: "This is top-notch white jade."
Jiang Shuo realized something: "I heard that the jade in Khotan is different from other places. Other jade is mined in the mountains, but the jade in Khotan is fished from the river. There is a big river in Khotan named 'Yulong River'. Every year in the early spring In the summer, it rushes down from the Wanren Kunlun Mountains in the south. After autumn, the water recedes, and all that is left on the riverbed is
Such pebble-like white jade. This underground river is probably an underground branch of the Yulong River, so there is also white jade in it. "
Dugu Xiang fished out a few more pieces and said, "It's a pity that they are all too small. They look beautiful, but they are of little use."
Then he threw it back into the river.
In fact, Khotan white jade does not only come from the river. The jade mined in the mountains is called "mountain material", the round jade picked from the water is called "seed material", and the jade that has not been polished and rounded in the mountain mouth river is called "mountain flowing water". Nowadays, the warmth and moistness of "seeds" are the most precious to people. In this world, jade materials are exhausted, and a piece of seed material as big as a fingernail is easily worth thousands of gold.
But in the Tang Dynasty, large pieces of beautiful jade in Khotan were not uncommon. People in the Tang Dynasty used jade to make utensils, which required large materials. Even if they were made into brands, such small materials were of little use, so Dugu Xiang threw them away without regret. If a current collector saw it, he would definitely be very upset and upset.
Not long after the two of them followed the underground river, they heard the sound of horses hooting. It turned out that everyone's horses were left here. The torches in front were not lit, and they stopped at a narrow doorway that could only accommodate one person.
However, the underground river is still flowing into the darkness ahead. It seems that this underground river passes through the city underground and has multiple entrances and exits. This is the entrance and exit to the palace city.
The two of them climbed up the steps and saw a small circular room. This type of circular house was only found in cities in the Western Regions and had never been seen in the Central Plains. It seemed that it was in a certain circular high-rise building in the city that they had just seen from the outside. Within the tower.
There were two guards lying on the ground. Jiang Shuo stretched out his hand and felt that he was still alive. Yuchi Yao should have come out of the cave first to lure the two of them away, and Cheng Qianli then secretly attacked their acupuncture points.
There were stairs in the tower that spiraled upward, but there were water stains on the ground that reached a half-open wooden door. It seemed that they walked out of the tower directly and did not climb the tower.
The two followed the water traces and pushed open the wooden door. They saw a corridor. This kind of corridor with walls was quite common in the city fortress. Jiang Shuo had now realized that this secret corridor should be the retreat route when the palace was besieged. In the end, The far exit was probably already outside the city, but was used by Yuchi Yao to enter the city in the opposite direction.
But the strange thing is that such secret passages are usually heavily guarded or blocked with huge rocks to prevent enemies from entering. Even Hu Shang Bartlet understands such a simple truth. How could the defense of the palace city be so lax?
