"Ijilenbode! How come it's so fast? Okay, okay! I'm short of people right now, just come back!" Wang Wenzuo couldn't help but be overjoyed.
"After receiving Your Highness's letter, my subordinates came here day and night!" Yiji Lianbode said with a smile: "It's a pity that Fan Chang'an's affairs have not been revealed yet, so I can't see you!"
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. This guy can't escape in Chengdu. Once we understand Chang'an, it won't be too late to go back and deal with him!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile.
"Your Highness is right!" Yiji Lianbode nodded: "Judging from the results of my subordinates' investigations these days, even if Fan Changan has nothing to do with Xiao Langjun's death, there must be a big conspiracy behind it. It's a pity that you He has been transferred from Chengdu, otherwise he will be captured and tortured, and he will definitely be dug out!"
"Maybe, but right now I have more important things to do!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "You should first understand the situation in Chang'an, and then you can help me deal with someone!"
"one person?"
"Yes, Wannian County Magistrate Zhou Xing! The queen is using him to deal with me. I will let Li Bo be your deputy. He is a native of Chang'an and knows the local situation very well!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "This time The matter is not simple, if we don’t handle it well, we will all report it to Chang’an!”
"My subordinate understands!" Yiji Lianbode also felt the heaviness in Wang Wenzuo's words. He nodded: "Your Highness, please rest assured and leave everything to your subordinate!"
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While the entire city of Chang'an was shocked by the recent case of Wu Minzhi forcibly raping the crown prince, the situation surrounding Datang was also undergoing drastic changes. The failure of the Battle of Dafeichuan broke the myth of the Tang army's invincibility. More and more conquered people around the Tang Dynasty looked at all this with their mouths open, and were surprised to see that the rulers who used to be like gods in the sky have now fallen into the dust. In the middle, rolling all over the ground, they took up weapons one after another, waiting for the opportunity to drive away the enemies riding on their heads and regain their freedom.
On a quiet night in the early summer of the second year of Xianheng (671), on the right bank of the southern section of Nashui (the name of the Songhua River in the Tang Dynasty) leading to Laoxiazitun, there was a group of knights, about twenty people up and down, very slowly. Walking along the river. The rear horse almost followed the hoof prints of the front horse. At the front of the team, there were two knights side by side, as if they were the outposts of the team, but if you look closely, you will find that they are not scouts. The two people just kept talking in low voices, and they didn't even look at the houses in the villages they passed. Every time they walked for a while, the two men would tighten their reins and look back at the team behind them. One of them whispered: "Slower, slower!"
The people behind him followed his instructions, slowed down their horses, and moved forward at a speed that was almost as slow as a canter.
A group of people walked through the hills and came to a flat land. The moonlight shone on the ground. Finally, they could see clearly why this group of people were walking so slowly. It turned out that there were two horses walking side by side in this group of people. The horses were There was a net bag hanging from the saddle, and there seemed to be a person lying in the net bag. Under the silver light of the moon, you can clearly see a half-grown child, with a pale face and tightly closed eyes. Behind the net bag were more than a dozen mounted guards. They wore leather armor inlaid with iron plates and held short spears and horned bows. It was difficult to tell their identities from their clothing. Although the two people standing in front seemed to be careless about their surroundings, the people who followed just kept looking around, appearing to be very vigilant, because the surrounding area was completely wilderness.
There was silence all around, and the only thing that could break the silence was the sound of horse hooves and the occasional shouts from the leading knight.
"Slow down, slow down!" he always warned repeatedly.
Then he turned back to his companion and asked: "Dear Harwin, do you really think it is right for the king to see Qi Sibiyu like this?"
This woman named Harwin was a tall young woman. Her face was smeared with oil paint and she was wearing a fox fur hat decorated with bird feathers. Her whole person looked like she had a mysterious power. She looked at it. Looking at the sky, he replied: "Don't worry, General Sword. According to the omen, your journey to Baishan will be safe. Neither evil spirits nor robbers can harm you or your child, the king!"
The man who asked the question shook his head: "I'm not asking you if your journey is safe. You should know that I have not been afraid of death since the first day I rebelled against the Tang Dynasty. I am just worried about whether Qi Sibiyu will fulfill his promise! "
"This world is no longer an era of keeping one's word!" Harwin said with a smile: "People like Qi Sibiyu, don't talk about divination or ask gods, even if they ask themselves, they won't do anything unless the matter comes. I don’t know what I would do!”
"Okay, you're right!" The man sighed: "Qi Si Biyu is indeed such a person, but I have no other choice! The Tang Dynasty has transferred new reinforcements from Hebei. If the Mohe people don't If you are willing to send troops, then I can only retreat to Silla!"
"You, you!" Harwin sighed: "Jian Moucen, why do you have to go against the Tang people? Goguryeo has died, and you are not the royal family, so you just take this little doll and want to restore the country. ?The death of this country is the same as the death of people. Have you ever seen the resurrection of the dead? Can't you see the current situation clearly? Everyone is planning for themselves, except you. If this continues, you will not have a good life. It’s going to end!”
There was no other sound in the surrounding area to interrupt their conversation, only the horses' hooves hitting the stones, making a sonorous sound. From the direction of the river, there was a sound like the chirping of crickets. These strange sounds were particularly frightening at night, and everyone else would He was afraid of it, but Jian Moucen didn't care. He looked at the moon in the sky and fell into deep thought. After a while, he sighed: "Halwin!"
"What's wrong?"
"You are a shaman. Is there a kind of herb that can make people die after eating it? Even if there is a cliff in front of them, they will grit their teeth and jump off?"
"No, even if it is true, I have never heard of it!" Harwin laughed.
"No, I think I have eaten this kind of herb!" Jian Moucen said with a smile: "You are right, restoration of the country is impossible. Yes, many people are talking about driving away the Tang people and restoring Goguryeo, but they What they are thinking about is something else. As you said, they are only thinking about themselves, and the restoration of the country is just a banner. They are using the banner of restoration as a banner, while colluding with the Tang people, and taking advantage of the restoration of the country. As a bargaining chip with the Tang people! The Silla people are like this, and the Mohe people are like this, one day I will die in their hands!"
"You're right!" The female shaman laughed, and her face covered with oil paint had a strange beauty: "But it won't happen this time, your life is not over yet!" At this point, the woman was like a horse Like a mare, it made a weird laugh, and that laugh spread to the deep canyon ahead, sending an ominous echo.
"If that's the case, then I'll take your word for it!" Jian Moucen laughed, his eyes gradually turned elsewhere, and he fell into deep thought, and finally said to himself: "Yes, I will die, but The names of these guys who survived will be forgotten, but my name will be remembered. Even thousands of years later, people here will use my name as a banner of resistance. Everyone dies, but reputation lasts forever. !”
This time the female shaman did not interrupt Jian Moucen's words. She looked at the man in front of her, her eyes full of intoxication and admiration. She knew very well that the other man's career would eventually fail. All the signs showed up like this, but what about that? How? She didn't care at all, she was happy to live and die together with this man. As he said, everyone is mortal, but at least she lived according to her own wishes!
Silence returned to the surrounding fields. Here, the riverbank became narrower and more desolate. The pale moonlight shone on the woods and rocks, creating all kinds of strange scenes. Harwin spoke: "This is the King's Tomb. We must gather together before we go there!"
"Why?"
"As soon as it gets dark, evil ghosts thirsting for human blood are everywhere here. Without the protection of magic, many people will die here!"
The two reined in their horses and waited for a while. When the follow-up people arrived, Jian Moucen stood up from the saddle and looked at the people in the net bag.
"Is he okay?"
"I'm sleeping so soundly that I can't even shake myself awake!" replied a veteran.
"I gave him a dose of sleeping potion before departure, so don't worry!" the female shaman said.
"Everyone, please be careful and don't disperse later!" Jian Moucen said.
"Don't worry, you have my medicine sprinkled on you. The ghosts will not hurt you!" The female shaman took out a wooden box from her arms, picked up the ointment inside with her fingertips, and applied it on the foreheads of people and horses. , everyone in the team, even the most brutal and brutal men, bowed their heads respectfully to the female shaman.
The team moved forward again, and soon arrived at the King's Tomb, which was a mound close to the river, like a round shield buckled on the ground. The moonlight shines brightly on the white stones standing on the mound. Some of the stones are isolated and some are stacked together. These stones are like the skeleton of a house, the ruins of a fortress, the remains of a giant, here and there, all kinds of things. Various stone slabs are standing, some upside down, like stone tablets on a cemetery. The entire King's Tomb is like a huge ruin. At some time in the past, even before the Han Dynasty, a powerful leader built a city here and ruled this land. But now there are only ruins left here, and even the surrounding area is empty. Only wild beasts live here. When it gets dark, all kinds of ghosts dance and wreak havoc here.
Before the team had even walked halfway, the breeze that had just been blowing their way turned into a violent whirlwind. The whirlwind swirled in the valley, emitting a dark and ominous whistling sound. From these ruins, the night walkers listened to all kinds of terrible sounds that seemed to come out of the suffocated chest: some were deep sighs, some were mournful moans, some were laughing loudly, and some were children's cries at night. The whole mound seems to be alive. Behind the ancient stones here, many tall shadows appear, with strange and indescribable shapes, seeming to jump and dance on the stones. Further away, in the dark, you can see a little green light, which seems to be the eyes of a pack of wolves. Finally, at the end of the road, among the rugged rocks, a deep voice could be heard howling. A cry here would be followed by a response from behind.
"This is a man-eating ghost!" A young man's voice trembled as he muttered to the veteran on the side.
"No, no, it's a mandrill!" the veteran whispered, his voice even lower.
"Bodhisattva! Be merciful and merciful!" Another veteran took off his hat, grabbed a wooden Buddha statue hanging around his neck, and prayed in horror.
"Don't worry, we are covered with shaman's ointment, those ghosts can't hurt us!" Jian Moucen comforted.
All the horses' ears stood up and sneezed uneasily. Harwin urged the horses forward. She was mumbling, as if she was reciting a spell. No one knew what she was mumbling until she passed through. During this section of the road, she turned back and said to everyone: "Okay, it's over. These guys are all hungry ghosts. I just recited the spell and they got out of the way. Now give me a piece of dry biscuit and a bag of Drinks!”
When she said this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. A young man took out dry biscuits and wine and brought them to Harwin respectfully. The female shaman jumped off the horse, tore the dry biscuits into pieces, threw them on the ground, sprinkled the wine on them, recited another spell, and said: "It's okay, these guys have something to eat, so they won't hurt us!"
The group of people continued to set off, Harwin and Jian Moucen were still at the front, and the others followed behind. They were all on tenterhooks just now, but now they were talking and laughing. Everyone remembered the terrifying scene just now.
"Without this woman, none of us would be able to get out alive!"
"Yes, this female shaman is so powerful!"
"But General Jian didn't say a word just now, he just stared at the child!"
"The general is very courageous, but if he encounters what I encountered, he may not be like this!"
"Oh, old man, what happened to you then?"
"That was more than ten years ago! That night, I took a shortcut through a cemetery at the foot of the mountain and saw something that rushed out of the cemetery and jumped behind my saddle. When I saw it, But he was a child, with a face full of blue-gray color! He was obviously a ghost. He and his mother must have been captured by Mohe bandits before they were alive, so they were not saved by Samanas even after they died. Today, their ghosts are still alive. Its eyes are gleaming with fluorescent light. It was glowing green, and it was scary to look at. Then it jumped up from the saddle and climbed up my neck. I felt something biting the back of my head. Bodhisattva! Help!"
"What happened next? How did it go?"
"What else can I do? Of course I escaped? Otherwise, who is talking to you now?" the veteran replied angrily.
There was a burst of good-natured laughter from the crowd, and the young man who asked the question rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
(End of chapter)
