Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 86

Tong Guan took Xin Xingzong and fled over the mountains, because they were afraid of being chased by horse thieves, and the two dared not flee along the official road.Wuma Mountain is the remnant of Taihang Mountain. It runs north-south. Although the mountain is not high, the two have been pampered for a long time. With blood blisters, the calf seemed to be filled with lead. "These unscrupulous people, when I return to Bianjing, I will definitely send troops to wipe them out." Tong Guan said bitterly.

"Your Excellency said so!" Xin Xingzong echoed weakly, but there was a grunt in his stomach, and he hadn't touched the rice for a long time.Tong Guan is a lucky minister of the Son of Heaven, and he is also a general. For a long time, his subordinates have done all the trivial things from exploring the road, camping, and even preparing the horses. The two masters didn't even need to think about it.At this moment, he fled in a hurry and forgot to bring dry food and water.

The two trekked in the mountains for three full hours. On the way, they found a small tree with a lot of wild fruits hanging on it, which seemed to be eaten by deer and sheep. The two were overjoyed and picked several of them. Going down, the fruit was sour and astringent, Tong Guan was so regretful that he almost stuck his tongue out.Xin Xingzong ate two fruits, but he was still not very hungry.Seeing that it was getting late, Xin Xingzong's eyes lit up, and he pointed to a thatched cottage at the foot of the mountain and said, "My lord, there is a family there!"

Tong Guan also brought his head closer, hesitantly said: "Could it be another den of thieves?" The two looked at each other, the faces opposite were covered with dust and vicissitudes, and finally made up their minds, in order to fill their stomachs, even Even if it is Longtan Tiger's Den, I have to break through it.

After climbing to the bottom of the mountain, the two first lay down in the grass and observed for a long time, and finally found that there seemed to be only a couple of old peasants and wives in the thatched cottage, so they came out with peace of mind. Begging for food and water.The old man was also kind, seeing two people in distress, he asked his wife to cook more millet, and first scooped out a ladle of water from the stove for the two.

Tong Guan gulped water into his stomach, and Xin Xingzong watched eagerly from the sidelines, until the adult stroked his stomach and made a sound, and handed over the empty gourd. The old man took it and asked his wife to come again Go scoop up a ladle of water.

"Looking at the appearance of you two, you came from outside the mountain, right?" the old man said with a kind smile and kind eyes.

"Yeah, the two of us met a horse thief on the official road, and we escaped with all kinds of hardships." Tong Guan said, his eye circles turned red, as if he was really a businessman who encountered a strong man.

"Ah! It's not easy in this world!" The old man sighed, "A year ago, there were not so many bandits." He paused, then suddenly changed the subject, and cursed in a more emphatic tone: "It's all that damned!" The traitor, Tong Guan, made people outside the mountain lose their way of life, so they insisted on running into the mountain." After speaking, he patted the table.The old man's hands were extremely strong, and there was a bang, which made Tong Guan's eyelids twitch in fright.The old man laughed himself and said: "Country people are used to being rude, don't blame the guest officer." Then he began to scold Tong Guan in a rambling manner.The information about the mountain people is very limited, and they are often despised by people outside the mountain. Therefore, the old man knew that the most common topic of discussion among people outside the mountain was to scold Tong Guan. stand up.

Tong Guan didn't dare to reveal his identity anymore, Wei Wei listened, his face was cloudy and cloudy, Xin Xingzong also had a bitter face, and secretly said: "When I find the local government, the old couple must be imprisoned and punished. , if there are children, it is better to have them cut off their children and grandchildren, so as to relieve the hatred in the heart of the father-in-law."

The old man scolded for a long time, but the two guests didn't talk to each other. He felt a little embarrassed, and laughed and said: "Country people don't know how to entertain guests. The two officials sit down first. I'll go to the kitchen to have a look. The old woman will make dinner." Slowly too." After speaking, he got up and went out.At this time, the farmhouses mostly used thatch and branches, and the stove house was built separately from other houses in order to prevent fire.

Xin Xingzong was about to start comforting him, but Tong Guan winked at him first, and said in a low voice: "Follow me out and have a look, beware of this old villain's tricks."

Xin Xingzong nodded immediately, followed the old man on tiptoe, and when he saw him walk into the kitchen, he quietly squatted outside the door to eavesdrop, only to hear the old man say in a low voice: "Old woman, where is the arsenic for our 'medicine' mice? Find it out!"

Xin Xingzong was shocked when he heard this, and almost fell down.

He didn't dare to stay, and tiptoed back to the house, and said so to Tong Guanru.When Tong Guan heard this, he gritted his teeth and said, "What a vicious old bandit." Xin Xingzong said: "My lord, these two old fellows have no strength, and only dare to poison them. It's better to strike first, let the last general kill them .”

Tong Guan scolded: "Reckless! Killing these two will anger the thief even more." His face changed, and he said in a deep voice: "It's better to escape from the thief's den while it's dark."

Xin Xingzong immediately nodded and said yes, the two of them rummaged through the house together, and with the meticulous energy of searching the place, found some fruits and millet hidden in the farmhouse, wrapped them in a rag jacket, and Taking advantage of the night'color' to escape.

The old man went back to his room and saw that he had been rummaged everywhere, lost a piece of clothing and food, and couldn't help stamping his feet and scolding: "I said, why are you sneaking around? Two thieves are here in the dark." I fell to your death in the mountains!" It turned out that the old man couldn't sleep well because of the rats' wandering around at night, so I just asked my wife for rat poison to get rid of the rats.

Tong Guan and Xin Xingzong didn't dare to stay near the thief's den, they didn't know the direction at night, they staggered up the mountain in the dark, just wanting to escape as far as possible.Many times, Mr. Tong was too tired to crawl, so Xin Xingzong would carry him away.Tong Guan was grateful and sighed: "Xingzong, you are the only one who is loyal among all the generals. When I return to the official family, I will cultivate you for a good life. It is not a problem to be a marquis." Overjoyed, he said, "Then it all depends on Mr. Tong's support." His feet also gained strength.

At this moment, in the Xiuge of Bianjing Gonglou, a light was slightly lit. Chen Dongping raised his hands to face the mirror, and Li Shishi tied a wide belt for him behind him, and smoothed out the folds of his clothes.Chen Dong often stayed in Li Shishi's Xiu Pavilion, and it was an open secret in Gonglou.His family is rich and wealthy, and he has also spent a lot of money.At this time, although being restricted by his old man, the money is a bit tight, and the reward is not as generous as before, but on the one hand, the girl is willing, and on the other hand, Mama Li is also holding back her energy. Not only do they have to 'force' out the girl's private savings, but they also have to knock a large sum of money from Chen Dong.

"Chen Lang goes out early and returns late these days, I'm always a little scared." Li Shishi whispered behind him, supporting his shoulders, and put his body against Chen Dong's back.

The undulating and graceful gentleness made Chen Dong also a little obsessed. He immediately came to his senses, patted the catkin on his shoulder lightly, and said in a low voice, "A man must do something. The old thief thinks he can cover the sky with one hand." , but I don’t know that public anger is hard to offend.” He smiled slightly, and said, “It’s all thanks to Tong Guan, the bastard. In the world, even if the old thief is favored by the officials, it will not be long before the water transportation is cut off, the merchants are on strike, and the capital is in turmoil. Sinking, this is a good opportunity to turn the world around in one fell swoop!"

Li Shishi has heard what he said several times, and he sneaked in front of Chen Dong slightly, tidied up his appearance for him, and said in a low voice: "I am only good at singing and praying every day, and I hope the gods in the sky will keep Chen Lang's great affairs It's done." After speaking, he stood two steps away, looked at the handsome Chen Dong, Xie Yi smiled and said: "It's all done. I will send my husband out respectfully."

The so-called Qingliu in the DPRK is not completely without its own power. After dozens of days of agitation against Tong Guan, coupled with the force under the table, some shops in Bianjing City have closed down, and the water transportation in the southeast is not very good. It went smoothly, and there were various official reasons.In private, it is said that there are "traitors" in the court, and the market is not peaceful.

The situation seemed to be slowly slipping out of Cai Gongxiang's expectation and control. What made him most angry was that Tong Guanming set off from Hejian a few days ago and then disappeared.

Although Chaozhong Qingliu made things big and angered the officials, the crown prince Zhao Ke would suffer in the end.But the out of control of the matter made Cai Jing a little sullen.Normally speaking, in order to avoid long nights and many dreams, Tong Guan should not stop and rush all the way back to Bianjing.

The current Qingliu has not had too many bullets for the "chaos" in Hebei, but there is already a momentum in the middle of the court, and whoever jumps out first may become the target of party criticism.Tong Guan is nowhere to be seen now, and some officials in the court who were originally attached to him are leaderless, and they are also anxiously waiting for the deity to appear.Several important court officials in front of the official family, Cai Jing, Wang Fu, Li Bangyan, Liang Shizhong, etc., although they have some affection for Tong Guan, also want to pull the prince down as soon as possible, but since Tong Guan stabbed the troublemaker in Hebei If he came out, he should have the consciousness to return to Beijing to wipe his ass as soon as possible. My Cai Mansion was not opened for your Tong family.Several important ministers knew in their hearts that as long as Tong Guan appeared, with his wit and the officials' care for the past, and his personal temperament, most of the things could be settled.And if others 'intervene' too much in this matter, the officials will suspect that they are forming a party for personal gain.

As time passed day by day, Tong Guan still disappeared, and Cai Jing became more and more angry.He even secretly tested Shen Yun to see if it was the fault of the Secretary of the Imperial City, but Shen Yun dismissed it with a straight face and said, "There is absolutely no such thing".Based on the information from Cai Jing's confidant in the Imperial City Department, the Jinyan Mansion of the Imperial City Department is also trying its best to find Tong Guan.

Taihang Mountain, stretching for [-] miles, is majestic, with complex and changeable terrain. Numerous mountain ranges are cut by Juma River, Hutuo River, Zhang River, Qin River, etc. Many horizontal valleys are called "Xing" locally, and there are ancient earthquakes. There are many faults in the mountains, and the mountains are steep, especially the eastern part of the Taihang Mountains is the steepest.Affecting the ups and downs of the fortunes of the Qingliu of the Song Dynasty and the "treacherous" party, the long-awaited Lord Tong and his confidant and beloved general Xin Xingzong have been "lost" for more than ten days in this vast and vast Taihang Mountains.