Chang'an, Chang'an.
The most prosperous city in the world today is one of the most prosperous cities in the world. The royal family of Li and Tang Dynasties, dignitaries, soldiers, common people, Buddhists, Taoist monks and nuns, millions of people lived there.
Eight north-south streets and fourteen east-west streets divide the entire city into more than a hundred lanes. Almost every lane has teahouses, restaurants, and sundries and department stores.
The East Market and the West Market were extremely prosperous. All the famous goods in the Tang Dynasty would have similar shadows here. The barbarians who looked very different from the people of the Tang Dynasty would also bring their unique charms with them. Customs and goods are sold and performed here.
Envoys were sent to the sea, deserts, and nearly three hundred far-flung countries in the world. Living here became a rich and colorful addition to the prosperity of Chang'an.
There is a poem that reads "The founding of the country was at the east well, and the city rose from the north star." Chang'an's palace city, imperial city, and outer city were arranged in parallel from north to south. The streets are wide, the squares are neat, and the shapes are uniform.
The palace city symbolizes Beichen, which is the center of the universe. The imperial city and hundreds of government offices symbolize the Ziwei Yuan surrounding Beichen.
The outer city symbolizes the stars arching towards the north.
Between the Imperial City and the Outer City, there is a ten-foot-high city wall surrounding it. Soldiers wearing heavy iron armor, holding long swords, spears, and sabers patrol in shifts day and night, haunting the walls and towers. between.
The inside of the wall is regarded as a restricted area that no one can pry into. Ordinary Chang'an residents have no reason to get close to it.
Even in other places in Chang'an City, if you want to climb high and overlook the scenery, there is a certain possibility that you will be regarded as trying to pry into the restricted area of the imperial city, and you will be arrested and imprisoned.
However, these things can restrict ordinary people, but they cannot restrict the dark red light flying from the clouds in the east when the fog is hazy and the sky is slightly white.
Even the warriors on the city wall, 99% of the people could not see that extremely fast flying image. It was not until it flew into the scope of the imperial city that it attracted the attention of experts from all walks of life.
When the dark red light they were looking at flew down in the eastern corner of the imperial city, some people already remembered what it was.
——The Blood Eagle of the Inner Guard.
That is not a natural falcon, but a set of falcon training methods left behind by Xu Maogong, who was well-versed in hundreds of schools in the past. He personally prepared medicine in Tiance Mansion and used his true energy to comb the eagle's tendons.
In the process of taming each blood eagle, at least medicinal materials worth thousands of gold are consumed, and it also needs to be accompanied day and night by someone who has practiced the blood eagle's true energy, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Once the blood eagle comes out, it can soar more than 1,600 miles in an hour, carrying a load of ten kilograms. It has no natural enemies among the birds of prey in the sky. It holds it high in the sky and is fearless of archers. It goes straight into the imperial city without any taboos.
The dovecotes of the inner guards of the Tang Dynasty were scattered everywhere, even as far away as Nanzhao and Piao, to the seaside in the east, and to the nine surnames of Zhaowu in the west. However, among these pigeonhouses, only a few could have blood eagles. There are only twelve places.
Unless it is urgent news such as an army expedition, rebellion, sudden death of a royal relative, etc., such communication methods are not allowed to be used easily.
No one from the Chang'an Internal Guard Yamen has seen Blood Eagle delivering a message for ten years.
When the bird of prey spread its blood-red wings and retracted its wings, leaving only black feathers, it landed on the sundial in the courtyard. Immediately, several internal guards appeared in the surrounding corridors, but they did not move rashly. .
The blood eagle beats gently, and a red rope with gold and silver luster is tied to its feet. The end of the red rope is tied with a huge bamboo tube.
A well-dressed guard hurriedly fetched the blood eagle's food, poured a longan-sized, rouge-colored pill into the palm of his hand, and gently twisted it open to release a strange fragrance.
The lingering aroma made the blood eagle's eyes freeze, and he watched helplessly as the well-dressed inner guard approached, pecked away the pill, and then waited quietly for the man to untie the red rope on its foot and take it away. Messaging bamboo tube.
The well-dressed inner guard did not leave immediately. He just threw the communication bamboo tube to his colleagues, and then he brought up a dense and reddish energy. When the blood eagle pecked at the pill, he gently caressed the back of the raptor.
A blood eagle will lose a lot of vitality once it is summoned, so it is necessary to use energy to regulate and comfort it in time. This is also a rule that the blood eagle breeders in the inner guard must bear in mind.
The messenger bamboo tube was quickly delivered to a study room where the smell of books and ink floated in the wind.
Sitting in the room was a handsome man in red robe with a slight beard and black hair on his temples.
There are two commanders of the inner guard, divided into left and right divisions. The leader of the left division, Li Gong, is said to be a relative of the emperor. He has been in charge of the inner guard yamen of Chang'an for a long time, and he has the calmness to remain calm despite the collapse of Mount Tai.
He took out a piece of cloth rolled up from the bamboo tube and slowly unfolded it, covering almost half of the table.
Words such as "Han Wen Gong", "Huo Luo Dao", "Guan Luoyang" and "Yu Tu Zhenren" came into his eyes one after another. Even the news of the death of Xu Miyuan, a master who has been famous in the world for decades, only made Li Gong frown. He frowned slightly, his eyes slightly twitchy.
But when he saw the paragraph "Shao Lingxiao destroyed Laojun Mountain", his face inevitably showed an extremely obvious expression change. His upper body pressed forward slightly, and his fingers were already pressing on the cold handwriting.
It seemed that he wanted to get closer, brushing his fingers over each word, reading the passage clearly over and over again.
He read this summons for half an hour, "Here comes someone!"
"Commander."
"Your Majesty went to Xingqing Palace yesterday, did you ever come back?"
"No."
Li Gong rolled up the cloth and immediately set off to Xingqing Palace to see the emperor.
The Xingqing Palace was originally the former residence of the late emperor when he became king. After the late emperor ascended the throne, he carried out large-scale construction and expanded it to include the palace.
The current emperor has a close relationship with the late emperor and often misses his father who died young, so he would move to Xingqing Palace to live for a while.
After Li Gong entered the Xingqing Palace, he saw the eunuchs and attendants beside a pond. The palace maids held up the canopy of honor, and the emperor sat fishing leisurely in the morning mist, accompanied by cigarettes from the stove.
This man of the day is extremely well-maintained. He looks at least twenty years younger than his real age. He seems to be just a young man. His skin is as smooth as warm yellow jade. He has a handsome appearance. He is sitting on the waterside fishing in casual clothes. His demeanor is also impressive. Heartbroken.
Although the current emperor did not dare to pay too much attention to martial arts due to the late emperor's death due to his obsession with practicing kung fu, after all, he already had some foundation in internal kung fu when he was young, and given his status, there was a group of people in the palace dedicated to him. Skill.
Every half a month, he would use the "all-in-one pulse-cleansing and body-solidifying method" created by Sun Simiao, the king of medicine at that time, to remove the impurities between his blood vessels, muscles and bones, ensuring that he would be free from all diseases and stay young forever.
"Ai Qing looks in a hurry and comes to see you before dawn. What is the important matter?"
The emperor turned to look at Li Gong, smiled, and said, "You came just in time. The queen has given me another riddle. I have been puzzled over the past few days. You will report it later." After that, come with me to solve the mystery."
When he said this, he seemed to be a little troubled, but in fact, his eyes were full of smiles and joy. He was obviously enjoying the game between him and the queen, and was not dissatisfied with being stumped.
In the past ten years, this emperor has become more and more idle in front of his close friends. He often travels around, watches operas and music, loves calligraphy and painting, ancient books, discusses Taoism with Taoist priests, and debates Zen with Zen masters. Sometimes it is misty and rainy, You can enjoy yourself while leaning on the railing and drinking, which is a waste of half a day.
Although he is still in the prime of youth on the outside, he has reached middle age on the inside. He has become more and more aware that he is not a heroic and majestic emperor through the ages, so he does not expect to be compared with those great ancestors and Taizong. He only wants to be safe and stable. , enjoy your life.
Anyway, the Tang Dynasty is now at its peak, and these pleasures he enjoys are not considered extravagant and extravagant. Moreover, due to his achievements in pacifying the Southwest ten years ago, when he waits for a hundred years, the history books will not be able to describe him. He has a reputation as a wise king.
The emperor with this mentality couldn't help but look a little stiff after Li Gong took out the silk book and explained the few important things above.
"You said...the leader of the Demon Cult has returned to the world?"
The emperor turned around, and the bamboo pole in his hand rotated with his body. The fishing line had already created a microwave on the water, and the fishhook hung directly to the shore.
He couldn't care less about this leisurely moment and kept asking, "Is it the demon sect that controlled the Liuzhao land in the southwest mountains ten years ago? This Shao Lingxiao must be the Shao Lingxiao of that year?!"
"The news is that Master Yu Tu and the Sixth General of Xiu Shuo City sealed it and sent it back together. There is no way it is false."
Li Gong said, "Shao Lingxiao has colluded with the evil sect Huo Luo Dao from the Western Regions again. In other words, he has controlled the entire Huo Luo Dao and planned many incidents. He assassinated the old general Han Wengong, took action to occupy Laojun Mountain, and hunted down the real person Yu Tu. etc."
"Ten years have passed, and his hatred has not faded away at all. I am afraid that he wants to let the Demon Sect be reborn under the hood and take revenge on those who besieged and killed the Demon Sect one by one. He may even...be harmful to His Majesty!"
The emperor scolded coldly and threw the fishing rod into the pond: "Are you still speculating? He has already made me angry and very unhappy. The demon sect must not resurgence. Li Gong, what do you think we can do to get rid of these demon sects?" The remaining evil will be strangled and wiped out again?"
The Demonic Cult must not resurface! !
The emperor repeated in his mind, "Do you want to send troops again and mobilize the army to kill him?!"
"No."
Li Gong said, "If you want to kill its master, you must first cut off the wings. At that time, the six imperial edicts in the southwest were all Shao Lingxiao's wings, which were enough to cover a hundred thousand mountains and block out the sky and sun. It was a disaster for one party. Going out with an army was the only countermeasure."
"Nowadays, the Huoluo Taoist followers are his wings, but their power is not as powerful as before. Moreover, they have hidden themselves from Yumen Pass into our territory of the Tang Dynasty. The followers are scattered. If we want to mobilize a large army, we will have food and grass for the three armies, and people will eat horses and chews. It’s not worth the loss.”
"Besides, when fighting against a master, you value the essence rather than the numbers. The situation this time is quite different from that of the battle to quell the Liuzhao."
"Grandmaster..." The emperor calmed down, breathed slowly, and said slowly, "Then what countermeasures do you have?"
Li Gong said: "The letter mentioned that some achievements have been made regarding the situation of various branches of Huo Luo Dao, but the government offices below are too slow to convey the letter."
"Wei Chen implores His Majesty to send an order. From now on, all information related to Huo Luo Dao will be transmitted through the internal security forces. All government offices are required to actively cooperate with the internal security operations. Wei Chen will lead the internal security elites to dispatch and kill the Huo Luo Dao branch separately. "
The power of the inner guards is spread all over the country, and its members are all elites, many of whom are masters. Their various means of communication and mobilization, and their ability to connect the righteous sects in the world, are far beyond the reach of ordinary government offices.
However, since the Empress Wu Meng came to the throne, she used the inner guards to supervise the world, which made the inner guards notorious. Later, after the Shenlong coup and Li Tang's revival, many restrictions were placed on the power of the inner guards.
Ten years ago, when the army went to the southwest, the inner guards were not able to participate much.
"In addition, please ask Your Majesty to transfer Cao Jisheng, Yan Miaoqing, and Ju Bong to follow the inner guards out of Chang'an, and let them follow the arrangements of the minor ministers."
Cao Jisheng, Yan Miaoqing, and Ju Bong are known as the three masters of Chang'an. They are closely related to the imperial court. Although they are not masters, they have magic soldiers integrated into their bodies. However, they are not interested in officialdom and have no serious official positions.
Only the emperor's decree could force the three of them to give this face.
The emperor pondered: "It is not difficult to cooperate with the internal guards from all over the country and let the three of them temporarily obey your orders. However, Cui Lingfang is dead, and the Chang'an masters also suffered a lot in the battle that year. You have to take away the internal guards." Wei Jingrui, if someone takes this opportunity to assassinate..."
"Weichen naturally dare not put His Majesty in danger."
Li Gong said, "Your Majesty must have forgotten that there is a master master in the palace city. Moreover, there are many civil and military dignitaries in Chang'an City and centuries-old families, such as Lu Gu'an, the Minister of Household Affairs, and others. He wants them to follow the ministers to the rivers and lakes to bathe in blood." It is naturally not appropriate to fight hard.”
"But if they are asked to bring their children with them and do their best to protect the palace, they will never dare not to die."
The emperor thought for a long time and finally nodded and said: "Okay, everything is as Aiqing said. I only hope that I can hear Aiqing plow the courtyard and sweep the caves soon. There will be no corpses of the demon sect's thieves, and even the last traces will be left everywhere." Good news that the Tang Dynasty has disappeared."
"My lord, I obey the order."
Li Gong acted vigorously and resolutely, and after obtaining the emperor's permission, he sent a message to the commander of Yousi and the internal guards of various places, and personally brought the imperial edict to invite the three people. He did not hesitate to spend the blood eagle's money to reply to Xiushuo City.
Wait until the morning fog clears and the scorching sun rises.
Hundreds of riders in black robes and soft armor rushed out of Chang'an City following the sound of iron hoofbeats.
………………
The orange-red in the eastern sky turned into a blazing white that could not be looked directly at.
When the sun shone brightly throughout Xiushuo City, Guan Luoyang was about to take a good bath.
Although Qianhuan Baoyi has the miraculous effect of being spotless, after he was injured during a night visit to Laojun Mountain, he traveled all the way, and relied on useless skills to fight with people. His body was stained with sweat and blood, but it could not help but make people feel a little uncomfortable.
The situation has been reported to the six generals of Xiushuo City, and the entire city's sergeants have been mobilized and placed on tight alert. Guan Luoyang has time to clean himself up.
Wu Pingqiang, Jiang Jiusi and others had concerned faces and complicated eyes, showing regret and gratitude. They had something to say but didn't know how to comfort them. When they heard his request to the soldiers to take a bath and eat, several people They all froze in place.
Guan Luoyang asked a little strangely: "Xiushuo City can be considered safe for the time being. You guys have been running around all night and were injured in fierce battles. Don't you want to take a bath?"
"Well, a little bit indeed."
Jiang Jiusi rubbed his face and could feel a layer of gray crust being rubbed off between his palms. He was a little overwhelmed, "But, Brother Guan, you..."
Wu Pingqiang hugged Jiang Jiusi and said, "It's time to take a shower. The leader of the demon sect is certainly scary, but they just showed up. Could it be that they scared us out of our wits?"
He called out to Qian Wanliang's people again, "Everyone, go and wash up. It's time for us to dust off our doubts and think about what's going to happen next. Should we leave or stay?"
"Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, it's not for anything else but because he forced me to run away in the Sword Making Villa in embarrassment. I want to fight them again for the blood I had ten years ago."
The gloom in everyone's hearts seemed to lighten slightly, everyone showed more or less sincere smiles, and left with undiminished pride.
After they all left, Wu Pingqiang took out the green-gold magic weapon, grabbed Guan Luoyang's hand, and let Guan Luoyang's fingers tightly grasp the handle of the magic weapon.
"Luoyang, I was still a little hesitant at first, but magic weapons should be given to heroes. Just for this night and your jokes, even if I have to wait for you for this sword for another ten years, you are completely worthy of it."
After he finished speaking, he seemed to be afraid of hearing Guan Luoyang refuse, so he used Qinggong and walked away in a flash.
Guan Luoyang stood in the courtyard of Duke Zhuang's mansion and looked at the sword in his hand.
It was something I had wanted before, and it was just right this time, and I got what I wanted, but...
"What on earth is he thinking about? I really just want to take a shower."
Amphibian stood next to him. When he heard this, he smiled, used the armor summoner to light up the music, shook his head and walked away: "I'm going to take a bath too, and we'll have dinner together later."
Soldiers brought hot water and a large bathtub to Guan Luoyang's guest room. He was about to go in to take a bath when he heard someone calling him again.
"Guan Shaoxia!"
General Yin's voice came from the other side of the corridor, "We have almost finished talking with Master Yu Tu. He has something important to ask you."
