Delong

Chapter 205 Walking in the Snow (4)

A gust of north wind whizzed by, Qin Bao reined in his horse and stood on the side of the dry forest a few miles northeast of the team, looking at the whiteness in front of him, his doubts did not diminish.

A knight in brocade came forward behind him, and asked in a low voice, "Second Master, except for a few fugitives along the way, everyone is clean. Do you want to continue going? If you go further, you will be at the same level as Gushu City."

Qin Bao thought for a moment, gritted his teeth, and looked back at each other: "Walk again, go to Gushu's side road, and go back if you have nothing to do."

As he said that, he clamped the spotted leopard beast under his crotch, and continued to head north against the cold wind.

The knight behind him also immediately speeded up to keep up.

At the same moment, Zhang Xingli stood on the horse, set up the awning with his hands, and looked at the long queue behind him. He saw the cold wind blowing up and made many people even more embarrassed, but he was also fascinated by it.

After a while, he put down his hands, looked at the acquaintance in front of him who looked a little funny, and asked calmly, "Old Wang, I heard that you are going to stay in the rabbit garden tonight? Is there still four or five miles to go?"

Wang Gonggong was silent for a moment, and he came back to his senses completely, but he gave the servant next to him a hard look, and then seriously asked the person in front of him: "Master Zhang, we are not fellow travelers now, why do you ask this? "

As soon as the words fell, he regretted it, because the other party immediately got off the horse and walked towards him with the scimitar in his waist, which made him squeeze out a few drops of sweat from his cold body... Father-in-law, is it worth acting like a hero here?

According to rumors, this guy was the one who suddenly beheaded Nanya Xianggong without batting an eyelid.

"It's not interesting, just to push a cart for you." As he said that, Zhang Xing walked directly past the other side's stiff body, and came to the car stuck in the mud openly, and then greeted those who were beaten with a smile. And the beating servant. "What are you all doing in a daze? Don't worry about what happened before, and don't care about the differences between fellow travelers. Wang Gonggong is a person who talks about the overall situation, so he won't embarrass you, but you should be more honest... A bunch of cars are stuck in the back Here, come and push the car out with me, so you don’t have to start a fire in the dark later, you’ll be cold and tired, and you won’t be able to get up when you lie down.”

The people around, whether it was the servant with the stick or the knights, all looked at each other in blank dismay, a little cautious for a while.

"Don't look at it anymore." Zhang Xing was not in a hurry when he saw this, he just looked back. "A few good hands to help push the cart, and two more people to support Wang Gonggong. I haven't been close to him for a long time. Since we met by the roadside, it is fate. When we go to the rabbit garden, we always have to drink hot soup together. "

As soon as these words came out, those knights seemed to realize something, and immediately got off their horses, and more than a dozen people rushed in, two of them rushed to support the prince, and the rest rushed forward quickly, and really followed Zhang Xing to carry the cart.

And this action also dispelled the last doubts of those new servants who came with a stick. They rushed to keep up, but swarmed and participated in it... It is really unclear whether these people were infected by the helpfulness of these brocade knights. I still feel that it is more cost-effective to take the opportunity to get rid of Wang Gonggong's attention.

In short, everyone worked together, and these knights obviously had some cultivation, but they easily lifted the car and pushed it onto the road.

That's not to mention, the third master Zhang looked down at the muddy land on the ground again, unhurriedly pulled out his knife, pointed at the ground, and then everyone saw it with their own eyes, it might be because of the cold weather, so it didn't seem obvious. The cold air came out, so I only saw a real silver-gray true energy spreading along the body of the Tao into the mud.

After a while, the whole mud, which was still bloodshot and footprints, including half a straw sandal, was immediately frozen.

At this time, Zhang Xing just stopped, urging the convoy back and forth, so that the convoy set off quickly, without delaying the time, he even did not forget to ask the knights to help the wounded climb onto the vacant horses and set off together.

Next, the two groups of people were quiet and peaceful except for some wailing and thank-you sounds. Zhang Xing even picked up many wounded men and women along the way under the watchful eyes of the stern prince. After stopping at a hundred paces, he continued to help push the carts and pull the animals, set up windshields, and even helped to light the bonfire with his own hands.

As if doing something natural.

At this time, the sun was already close to the horizon, and the light began to dim, but the cold wind from the north kept whistling, and almost immediately froze the muddy road that everyone passed by.Outside the rabbit garden, there were wailing, crying, cursing and pleading everywhere, which seemed to be out of the world.

On the contrary, the troops and civilian husbands in the outer periphery have lived a little more peacefully, and they have set up camps with some rules.

Of the [-] garrison troops, not half of them left, but separated by countless servants and palace camps, they formed two half-moon-shaped camps, covering about half of them.

"Second Master?"

When the Zhonggong team arrived at the Rabbit Garden, Qin Bao also took advantage of the setting sun to come to the avenue east of Gushu City, but to be honest, the place was empty at first glance, and the muddy and hardened ground seemed unusual, and this made him The accompanying knights were completely relieved, they just asked for instructions and urged Qin Bao.

On the contrary, Qin Bao looked around, thought for a while and asked the knights beside him:

"Why is this road dark?"

The knights looked at each other, and finally a white ribbon smiled: "Second Master was joking, we have walked all the way, what road has been crossed, can it not be black?"

"We are us." Qin Bao said seriously. "We are tens of thousands of people stepping over together in the afternoon, and naturally we have to turn the mud up... What's the matter with this road? We also walked it? How come there are so many people, so we have to hurry in the afternoon?"

The knights looked at the re-hardened road in surprise and panicked, but immediately felt a little bit reluctant.

"After all, it's the main road opposite the county..." Na Baishou also seriously discussed it. "And didn't we stay in Gushu last night? Could it be that Cao Taishou was in a hurry to replenish supplies to the city from here yesterday, so it's like this?"

"It's very possible." Qin Bao nodded for a moment. "Then let's go back... take a walk around Gushu City and take a look."

This is a best-of-both solution, and the Cavaliers have nothing to say.

Especially at this time, the road surface has begun to harden, but it is not too stiff. Walking along the hard road, the speed has increased instead.

In fact, Qin Bao galloped so hard that he crossed Huanshui and arrived at Gushu City, which was close to Huanshui, or came to the city before the last ray of light sank.

Because at this time, the gate of the city was already closed.

"Second Master...it should be fine, let's go!"

To be honest, at this time the cold wind is howling, and the patrol riders are cold and tired, and they have to go back to the rabbit garden. It seems that they have to go to the south at night to patrol, but it is really a bit perfunctory, that is, Qin Bao usually treats his subordinates with discipline, The people below are willing to respect that's all.

Qin Bao nodded, finally wanted to give up, and turned along the outer edge of the city wall to the south road. However, when he turned around the turret at the corner of the city wall, with the last ray of sunlight, Qin Heishou, who was riding on a horse, saw at a glance To a figure on the turret.

Of course, the opponent in full armor also saw him at the same time.

The next moment, it seemed that the sun had completely set, and under the somewhat dark city wall, Qin Bao reined in his horse and "looked at" the man above him in the twilight.

The knights don't know why.

But soon, the people above spoke first: "Qin Erlang, I haven't seen you for many years, Niu Da is polite... Listen to my advice, don't make things difficult for third brother, and don't make things difficult for brothers and me. If you have the heart, you can do it yourself. It’s also good to bring a few brothers with you, and stay in Wengcheng in the east for one night. Niu has his own water and wine. If you think about it, the third master will come over and make arrangements for you... When the time comes, the brothers will meet again and do great things together. Wouldn’t it be fun? ?”

Why didn't the knights in brocade clothes know who the third master was, their brains exploded immediately, and the neighing of their mounts kept ringing under the turret for a while.

In the twilight, Qin Bao seemed calm, but the panic in his heart was no better than the knights behind him. The situation he was most worried about appeared. In a big way, this is called brothers meeting on the battlefield. It was the escort team that was in absolute danger.

He had expected the former many times, but he couldn't think of a way to deal with it. The only thing he could be sure of was that if the imperial court had all the advantages, he would definitely do his best to let the other party go. At that time, he didn't have to think about it.

However, even Qin Bao himself knows that facing that third brother Zhang, he really does not have much possibility to occupy the top spot, and it is more likely that he will be won by the opponent, such as right now... and this is the most Embarrassing... He has to try to solve the problem, at least he has to do his job, fulfill his responsibility, and do his best.

At this point, Qin Bao didn't hesitate, and immediately turned around and reined in his horse: "Let's go! Gushu has been captured by the opponent's brigade, and the thieves in the city are not inferior to me in cultivation and martial arts. At this time, I have to report to the superior! Who Go back first, who will make the report!"

The knights panicked for a while, and hurriedly followed Qin Bao to beat his horse in the dark and leave.

There was no sound from the city, and I don't know if it was an illusion. Obviously Gushu City has been completely occupied by the rebel army, but the turret seems to be a little relieved.

Qin Bao rode his horse and galloped along the icy avenue, but he didn't dare to walk on the completely slippery road, so he could only walk along the side of the road. At the beginning, some knights fell behind one after another. Fortunately, the spotted leopard beast under Qin Bao's crotch was a dragon foal. After about an hour, he still came out of the rabbit garden that was already full of sparks, and then went to the garden in spite of everything.

"Is it so painful?"

Looking at the horse team galloping into the park, Zhang Xing looked away and continued to sigh with emotion by the campfire. "Actually, the ups and downs are the suffering of the people, and it's the same thing to put them here in your palace. When it's good, what does the good have to do with you? When it's bad, it's mostly you who suffer the pain... It seems that there is a chance to get it Climbing up, but as the saying goes, one will be successful and ten thousand bones will be exhausted. Sometimes I ask myself whether I have the cultivation talent of Niu Dugong, or the ruthlessness of Gao Dugong? I probably understand in my heart that I was probably sunk to Luoyang on the way. The one in the water... When Jing'an Terrace was cleaned of the surrounding pond water and silt, countless bones were dug out of it, all of which were washed out of the palace, and they dared not even investigate."

As Zhang Xing said this, by the bonfire, all the servants with bruised noses and swollen faces stared at him, and the knights in a large circle around them all listened with their ears turned. Follow the sound of the porridge bowl to listen.

Around here, the car and car next to the bonfire next to the livestock are already crowded.

Even the prince who wiped his face with a piece of snow just stared blankly at the top three rebel in the black list through the flames between the two knights in brocade, not knowing what to say for a moment... He was always calm Astute, he has no doubt at all, if he jumps up and shouts that these patrol riders are all fake, this black ribbon is a traitor, if he doesn't need the two people beside him to use their swords to make him angry, the strange little servants around him will also Maybe he will tie up his prince as a madman.

The reason is simple, because the Mr. Zhang on the opposite side is so realistic and heart-warming.

After lighting the bonfire, the guy walked around to maintain order, delineating the range of about a thousand people, dozens of vehicles and livestock... Then he sent the wounded and overworked people into the inner circle to comfort the men and women who were crying out of control , Organize the palace people and the servants to help each other in groups... The palace people help with cooking, washing clothes with ice water, and the servants do the carrying and stacking.

Then, a small number of servants who committed crimes came over with firewood and rice, but they actually relied on their power to distribute firewood and charcoal to ask for bribes, and even molested the palace people, but they were also suppressed on the spot by the third master Zhang. , beheaded the leader, and paid charcoal fairly.

Not to mention that, after realizing that the wind was really strong, he personally took a few knights and set off to the army and county officials. After negotiating seriously, he gave some gold and silver, and asked for more firewood and rice. It is equivalent to ordering an extra bowl of hot porridge for the thousand people around here.

The servants below made a fuss, wanting to take advantage of the opportunity to ask for more, but he stopped him, saying that the firewood in winter was difficult, and it was all supplied by the people of Liang County who went out in the snow to cut down the supply, and the rice was paid by the local people. I was also suffering from hunger and cold when I was young, and we just stopped.

Now sitting down, I actually told these fringe servants for a long time the story of Jing'antai, the eastern capital, and even traveling with him to Kansai and Yunnei, and everyone listened with great interest.

Sometimes the prince listened to it in a trance, and couldn't help thinking, if this man hadn't rebelled, would it be really much better if he came to assist Gao Dugong on the way, or simply made his own decisions?Thinking of this, he couldn't help being discouraged, and thought about just pretending to be confused.

However, from time to time, when the north wind howls, disturbs the bonfire, and interrupts the conversation, the prince will still wake up, and then clearly remind himself that since the other party's level of rebels are here, they will never just come to be a fair person of.

There's going to be a big mess tonight.

And he is the father-in-law of Beiya, and even the leader of the only temporary ridiculous force of this group of servants.

From beginning to end, the princes and princes are at war between heaven and man.

I don't know how long it took, Zhang Xing had already talked about the three signs, and suddenly, this Mr. Zhang stopped on his own initiative, and then looked over the core area of ​​the rabbit garden.

Everyone followed and saw two golden lights, one big and one small, suddenly rising up, and then the smaller one fell down again. Only a slightly larger golden spot of light swayed in the air. It seems to be heading north, which also attracts the surrounding palace servants and servants to be suspicious.

Zhang Xing turned his head, looked behind him, and calmly ordered: "It is estimated that Zhu Shou from Jing'an Tower is going to do something, brother Xiong, follow up and take care of him."

A majestic knight who was sitting in the car listening to the excitement nodded, directly tore off his brocade clothes, and then a ball of purple true energy flowed all over his body, but he also leaped in the air for a while while everyone was stunned, and then from the inner area of ​​the rabbit garden, suddenly Soared into the sky, and went to chase that golden streamer.

How can people in Dongdu, especially those in the palace, be ignorant?

Just a moment later, a little servant carefully asked: "Zhang Changjian, you are Hei Shou, how can you have a master who can compare with other Zhu Shou?"

Zhang Xing couldn't help but want to explain.

On the other hand, there were other servants who knew better than him and scolded: "You know what, Zhang Changjian said it earlier, he went to Fulongwei a long time ago, I heard people say that although Fulongwei is considered Jing Antai, however, is different from the Black Pagoda, it is directly under the palace, and there is also its own White Pagoda, and its cultivation base is also higher."

Everyone was stunned, and Zhang Xing also laughed: "That's right, the so-called masters of the inner world, because of Niu Dugong, everyone thought it was you, but in fact it was us."

Everyone also laughed.

Amidst the laughter, there was still a little servant who couldn't help asking: "But how did I hear that Fulongwei has dispersed now?"

Everyone heard this clearly, so they came to see Zhang Changjian again.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Changjian didn't seem to hear it, and just continued to tell the previous story:

"Going back to what I said before, I was called to the imperial court by Eunuch Yu, and the saint asked me what was happening? I lied to the saint, saying that there was a group of cranes flying into the sky. The saint was very happy. Seeing that I was already a black ribbon, he directly granted me a county. And Mr. Na Yu has always been kind to me, and he directly helped me find a good place in Wu'an County, Hebei, and got the documents that night. Although I felt disgraceful at the time, I walked for a few days and arrived in Dengzhou Daying decided that it would be better to take up the post, so they left Daying overnight and prepared to go to Hebei to take up the post."

In the distant night sky, there were two light spots faintly shaking, but the weather was cold and the wind was strong, and everyone generally shrank their heads, so they didn't notice it.

For example, when Zhang Xing was here, when he heard that Zhang Changjian was going to serve as a prefect from Chen, the servants around him couldn't hold back, so that someone came to ask on the spot:
"Zhang Changjian was the prefect of a large county. Why did he come back to do a regular inspection now? Did he encounter rebellion from thieves? I heard that there are rebels everywhere in Hebei and the east!"

This conjecture is much more reasonable, including the servants who had doubts before, they have already made up the scene of coming back and being downgraded due to crimes.

"Yes and no."

Two teams of knights came out of the rabbit garden and galloped up and down the Huan River respectively. Zhang Xing glanced at it and continued talking. "I came out of the Dengzhou camp with documents, took a compass, walked along the mountain, and came to a deserted village in a daze... The people in the village obviously fled after the spring plowing. The valley is full of crops. But it is full of weeds, covering the road, but this deserted village is still where I settled when I fled back from the Erzheng Dongyi, and I still know it... I cut grass in the village for half a day, but I couldn’t cut it clean, so I felt angry. I feel that a real man was born in this world, and when he encounters this world, how can he serve the rich and powerful, and enjoy the wealth in peace? Originally, he thought that the prefect was too dirty, but now he got angry and turned around and turned back!"

Everyone was fascinated by what they heard, and some people, regardless of their status, couldn't help urging: "I didn't meet the thief, so what happened afterwards? What happened after the third master came back?"

"After I came back, I wanted to do something big..." Zhang Xing glanced at another smaller streamer rising into the sky, and then turned back to call for someone. "Xu Da, why are you listening so seriously? Don't you need to work?"

Leaning on the car, Xu Dalang, who was also fascinated by listening, came to his senses and leaped into the air. He didn't even care about changing the location at low altitude, so he rolled up a stream of eternal life that his father-in-law was most familiar with to find the newly rising streamer.

And Zhang Xing also turned around and continued to talk to these servants:
"But I'm relatively young, with high eyesight and low hands. I originally planned to work on the Huai River, but when I walked halfway, the weather was extremely hot, and there was heavy rain, and the road was very muddy. Some people drank muddy water and suffered heatstroke. , it stinks when you die... Gradually, the accompanying soldiers and civilian husbands, including the people in Jing'antai, couldn't bear it anymore, and resentment arose..."

"It's not the same as it is now."

"That's right, one is hot and the other is cold!"

The servants felt the same way.

"Of course the same, but the key is not the weather. Severe cold and heat, frost, rain and snow, the way of nature is natural. The key is that the people above don't treat the people below as human beings." Zhang Xing took it seriously. "Let's not talk about you, even if you are patrolling and wearing brocade clothes, they only regard you as a firewood. Your life is not a life in the eyes of nobles..."

The people around nodded, saying that Zhang Changjian had hit the point, and even Wang Gonggong opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.

But when the people around him gradually calmed down, Zhang Xinggang continued:

"There is nothing left to say, because many people probably have heard of it. At that time, there was a lot of noise. I couldn't bear it for a while, so I killed Zhang Han, the Nanya minister who encouraged Sanzheng and Xiu Dajinzhu. His head took my two companions as floating horses across Gushui, and has since become a traitor. At that time, Jing'antai and military masters were all around, but no one stopped me. ...You say, people have such hearts, so what can they do if they have no power at all?"

The surroundings suddenly became extremely quiet.

Some people obviously reacted, some people seemed to have been waiting for this paragraph, and some people were still at a loss, just aware that the atmosphere had changed.

Along with the fight between alchemy masters not far away in the night sky, and surrounding knights touching their weapons, Zhang Xing looked at the prince seriously:

"Old Wang, I won't hide it from you. We have taken down the Gushu in the back and the Xiayi in the front. You are mice in the bellows now. What are you going to do?"

"What does Mr. Zhang want me to do?" At this point, Wang Gonggong was calm. "On the contrary, I can't understand. As a servant, I can't get more than three meridians with true energy. If you cut it with a knife, it's enough. Why is it so?"

"Then what about them?" Zhang Xing pointed his finger back. "They are just a group of servants, why should I delay my time?"

"To do great things, win people's hearts...Your Excellency also said it just now." Eunuch Wang sneered for a while.

"Then aren't you human? Don't you have a heart?" Zhang Xing couldn't ask.

The prince was silent for a while, but after a while, as the surrounding troops began to shout restlessly, he finally spoke slowly: "I probably know what Mr. Zhang wants us to do, but we are a group of servants...to put it bluntly Yes, the courtiers rebelled against you, and they can still be assigned to sergeants as wives. We are a group of servants who rebelled against you, and they are your own soldiers. Who would look down on us? Don’t we know that the road is hard to walk? But why do we have to throw away Dongdu? The house, gold and silver, eager to go to Jiangdu? We can only go to Jiangdu. Although the world is big, only the palace there can accommodate us."

Many smart servants around have already made up a lot of things in their brains, but at this time they heard the prince's words, but they were a little sad and calmed down.

"I admit it." Zhang Xing nodded frankly. "Even if you rebelled, there must be many people in our Dragon Gang who look down on you, and you servants are used to being pampered in the palace, and it is difficult to adapt to the hardships of the place. At that time, I will strictly enforce military discipline. Many things will be caused... But, I want to ask Wang Gonggong a few words... First, as I said just now, the lower city below has also been occupied by us, how many casualties are you going to pay? There are so many of you When we reach Jiangdu, how many people can be left? Second, do you really think that you can escape the war and live in peace when you arrive in Jiangdu?"

Wang Gonggong opened his mouth, as if he was speechless, and he didn't seem to want to say anything more.

There was another commotion in the rabbit garden
"Forget it." Zhang Xing was still calm, not thinking that he was wasting time at all, he stood up and continued. "Old Wang, you are sensible, so you should know that in this world, if you want to survive and be respected by others, you have to fight and do it yourself. The so-called shelter must be established by yourself to be safe... That's all I've said, even if you don't want to join me in the trouble, please give way, lest you lose your life for nothing."

After saying this, Zhang Xingnuzui signaled that the two knights put down the prince. Immediately, the former Fulongwei deputy inspector turned around and led the knights to the horses, left the bonfire, and went to the rabbit garden where the turmoil became more and more obvious. away from the road.

The so-called Rabbit Garden is actually the palace garden of a Prince of Liang in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. It was also called Liang Garden. For a place name, plus some specific small towns, barely enough for nobles and elite patrols to settle in.

As for Zhang Xing, because the Rabbit Garden is a bit close to Gushu, they are actually planning to set off to capture the upper and lower cities tomorrow morning, but because Wang Zhen hastily reported that there are traitors fleeing from his side, Zhang Xing was forced to advance launch.It is to let dozens of masters change into brocade clothes with few patterns, take the scimitars of Jingjiehu from the two counties, pretend to be brocade-clothed patrol riders, and guard the civilians to transport supplies, and lead the troops to easily deceive the city, and then hurried south to come in person Do scouting and be ready to improvise.

But now, Zhang Dalongtou saw that with the news of the fall of the two cities, another team of patrolling riders in the park was dispatched, and the expected masters also went to the sky to exchange their sons. More importantly, the army brigade Almost the entire camp was separated by a huge camp of servants and palace servants, but without hesitation, they left those servants alone and led dozens of cavalry masters from the Dragon Gang to come directly to the garden.

This is a warplane.

The commotion behind was only drowned out by the bigger commotion on all sides. Everyone along the way only thought it was a team of brocade patrols, but they were allowed to walk a hundred steps to the front of the largest residential complex with bright lights in the middle.

And what stopped Zhang Xing and the others was not any checkpoints or interrogation, but a group of brocade knights poured out amid the commotion on the opposite side, and they seemed to be escorting someone and were heading out.

The two sides were thirty or forty steps apart, and the other side spoke first, and an incredibly familiar voice said, "Is it Qin Er or Lu Heishou? Are Gu Shu and Xia Yi indeed captured together? How did they come back so quickly? "

In the dark night, before Zhang Xing replied, another person said to the convenience: "No matter who it is, quickly escort me to the outer garrison to find the county officials and the two Zhonglang generals to be the commanders. There must be no shortage of people in the central palace. There seems to be commotion among the attendants again, so Li Heishou hasten to go back and join Shen Zhushou!"

What responded to the other party was a little silence and uncontrollable laughter, which made the other party slightly taken aback.

And Zhang Xing was riding on the yellow pussy horse, and he didn't bother to pay attention to the movement around him. He just took a deep breath, and then circulated the ice zhenqi, without rushing, and announced in the dark night: "Zhang Xing, the right-wing leader of the Dragon Clan, together with you!" The whole group of heroes from the Dragon Clan is here, and I heard that the Queen is traveling to Liang County, so I am here to greet you! Prefect Cao and Li Twelve, are you still leading the way?!"

The whole night seemed to stagnate for a moment.

In the next moment, Zhang Xing was the first to pull out the standard scimitar. He was full of energy and didn't want money to flow out. Then he pointed forward, looked back, and continued to order softly: "Kill."

"kill!"

Zhou Xingfan yelled vigorously first, and then burst into Lihuo true energy, leaped forward and swung his sword forward, and the riders of the Dragon Clan also suddenly started, drawing out their true energy, gathered into a ball, shouted to kill, and charged face to face go.

Inside and outside the Rabbit Garden, there was a sudden chaos, and the bonfire of swordsmen, reflecting the ice layer of Huan Shui, hovering between the night and snow, immediately shattered the sad dream of the journey for a while.

PS: Good afternoon, everyone. By the way, I would like to thank the friends who came to the dinner party yesterday... It is not easy to have a meal these days. Everyone has worked hard.

(End of this chapter)