Jiaolong Jue

It was the time when the sun was setting in the west, but in the distance, a group of people and horses came galloping, with banners waving and trumpets fluttering, billowing dust and smoke, covering the sky and blocking out the sun.

As they were marching, a man urged his horse to come under the high-hanging handsome flag, clasped his fists at the people under the flag and said:

"My lord prime minister, my [-] troops have rushed eight or nine hundred miles for several days, so I can't penetrate Lu Jin at the end of the crossbow. If I rush to Qingzhou with a tired army, I am afraid that the enemy will take advantage of it. From the point of view of my subordinates, this place is not far from Qingzhou. It is better to camp here for the time being, and rest overnight, and it will not be too late to come to Qingzhou tomorrow!"

It turns out that under the handsome banner, wearing a golden crown with hair tied on his head, a chain of golden armor, and a red shirt on his outer cover, the heroic and heroic general is Tuotuo, the Prime Minister of Zhongshu You.

Without waiting for Tuotuo to answer, a person behind him glanced sideways at that person, and also clasped his fists and saluted:

"My lord, since this place is less than [-] miles away from Qingzhou, my subordinates thought that they should rush to Qingzhou in one go, take it by surprise, and take Qingzhou in one fell swoop! Huhelu colluded with the people in the rivers and lakes, but it was just a group of mobs. When the heavenly soldiers came, they forced Due to the pressure, they naturally scattered like birds and beasts! How can they resist? Wu Joining the Army is really too much to worry about!"

Wu Canjun was about to speak, but Tuotuo raised his hand to stop him, and then he let out a soft "shh~" and took his mount, looked up and looked around.

But not far from the side of the road, there is a large lake with vast expanse of blue waves. The lake is densely covered with sandbars, and the waterways are criss-crossed.

Aquatic plants are emerging by the lake, and tender yellow shoots of Artemisia annua are emerging one after another.

Tuotuo held his whip and asked, "Do you know where this place is?"

Wu Canjun said: "My lord, this place is under the jurisdiction of Hengtai County. This lake is called Mata Lake!"

Tuotuo nodded, urged the horse to come to the lake, looked up, and saw the vast mist reflecting the afterglow of the sunset, and the layer upon layer of thin waves shone with golden light.

A flock of wild ducks flew up from the bank of the sandbar, screaming "quack", and flew towards the direction of the sunset. In a blink of an eye, they turned into countless small dots, jumping in the fiery red glow, and soon disappeared.

Tuotuo stood standing by the lake, looking at the water color and sky light from a distance, he couldn't feel emotion in his heart, he turned his head to look at Wu Canjun and Wuji who came after him and said:

"Do you two know the origin of this horse stepping on the lake?"

Liao Wuji said blankly: "This...subordinates don't know!"

Wu Canjun said: "My subordinates have heard of it before. This name seems to be related to Duke Huan of Qi, the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period!"

Tuotuo smiled and said:

"Wu Canjun is right! According to legend, this is the place where Duke Huan of Qi led his troops to meet the princes. It is said that this was originally a flat plain, but because the princes gathered and trampled on by soldiers and horses, the plain was turned into a lake!"

After listening to Wuji, he said disapprovingly, "No matter how many horses there are, they won't be trampled into a lake! This is obviously nonsense!"

Tuotuo also smiled and said: "My lord said it! Of course it's just a legend! How can it be taken seriously! However, this horse stepping lake is famous for its legend. The literati and inkmen of the past dynasties have visited here for sightseeing, but there are many people looking for it. !"

Liao Wuji has never been good at this way, nor does he disdain it, he just snorted softly and didn't answer.

Wu Canjun hurriedly said:

"The subordinates know that the prime minister is not only excellent in martial arts, but also quite proficient in poetry. Since the lord said that there were literati and inkmen here, there must be many poems and songs left behind. Do you remember it? You might as well chant one , and let the subordinates learn a lot, and open their eyes!"

Tuotuo smiled and said: "Wu's joining the army is too famous! I think that although I knew some literature and ink when I was young, I have long been unfamiliar with the army and horses all these years! But I still remember a poem written by Su Shi in the Northern Song Dynasty."

After all, looking at the lake and water, he chanted:

"Looking at Cui Gai with red makeup, I don't feel the frost by the lake overnight. I can't write the secrets and brocades, but I teach them how to write autumn scenery"

After singing, Wu Canjun clapped his hands unconsciously, but Liao Wuji just turned a deaf ear.

Tuotuo smiled and said: "The best works about the scenery of this place don't stop here, but I have forgotten it too! Since we passed by this place, the scenery is too good to be missed, so we will camp near the lake, rest for a night, and come to Qingzhou immediately tomorrow!"

Wu Canjun agreed, and turned his horse's head to deliver the order. If there was no trace, he had to accept the order and return to the headquarters to arrange.

Thousands of troops and horses temporarily set up camp not far from Mata Lake.

It didn't take long for all the parts to start cooking, and the smoke was everywhere for a while.

After all the soldiers had finished eating, the sky was slowly turning dark.

Traveling all the way in a hurry, people were already exhausted, and everyone stopped their flags and drums, got into the military tent, blew out the lights, and fell into a deep sleep.

The horse neighing in human language stepped on the lakeside, and the tranquility of the past was restored.

Only the lights in the big tent in the center of the barracks were still flickering.

In this silence and darkness, the lights are particularly eye-catching.

It turns out that Tuotuo has always had the habit of reading every day and night, even if he is busy with business and tired, he never stops.

At this time, he was concentrating on reading at night by candlelight.

But he didn't know that at this moment, on a desolate and desolate hill not far from the camp, there were three people lurking, watching from a distance, waiting for the opportunity, and preparing to break into the camp and take his life.

At first, the three people saw the staggered camps and were worried that it was difficult to identify Tuotuo's location in the night. At this time, they were secretly happy when they saw the dancing lights.

Seeing that the night was getting dark, one of them got up and was about to go down the hill, the one next to her hurriedly pulled her back, and whispered urgently:

"Girl, there are thousands of troops guarding here, how can you go alone! Otherwise, let's wait until we have a chance to talk about it later?"

The woman shook her hand away and said:

"Huhelu made it clear to me that only if Tuotuo's army is killed before it reaches Qingzhou, the army will retreat without a fight and ensure that Qingzhou has no worries! And now that he is camping temporarily and the guard is lax, I can If there is an opportunity, if they really wait until their army besieges the city and the walls are fortified, then there will be no chance to assassinate him!"

Seeing that she couldn't stop her, the woman next to her hurriedly said:

"Girl, it's too dangerous for you to break in like this! How about letting Yan Luo wait here, and I'll go in with you?"

Ling Luo shook her head and said: "Your martial arts are average, and you won't be able to help me when you go in! I'll be distracted to take care of you! You two just wait here, and I'll drive back immediately after I kill him!"

She threw herself to leave again, but the woman hurriedly grabbed her and said:

"Girl, don't worry! It's too dangerous for you to go! What should we do if... you are trapped?"

Ling Luo pondered for a while before saying:

"If the heavens fail, and I can't kill Tuotuo, and I'm caught by them, you can go to Qingzhou to report to Huhelu, so that he can prepare early and find a way to rescue me! But you must never go back to Luocha Island and my mother Say! I have disobeyed her by coming out privately, and I can no longer cause trouble for her old man!"

The woman nodded in agreement, and Yan Luo asked eagerly again: "Girl, there is no good man in the world! In case Huhelu is unwilling to save you, what shall we do?"

Ling Luo was so angry that "huh!", she wanted to ignore her and leave, but she felt a little uneasy, so she hesitated and said:

"He...he won't! But if it is true...you can go to the beggar gang to look for Su Yu! I think the people of the beggar gang are close to him, and they will definitely be able to find him! Ruoyun My son is here, there must be a way!"

After all, a light body has already floated down the dirt ridge.

Yan Luo poked out his small face to look at Ling Luo's figure and went straight to the camp.

Feeling resentful in his heart, he pouted and scolded:

"If the girl can come back safely, that's fine! Otherwise, I will kill that stinky man to avenge her!"

The woman next to her just sighed softly, stared at the front, and didn't speak.

At this time, Tuotuo was reading absorbedly, when he suddenly felt a slight noise outside the big tent, he was a military commander, and he was unusually alert, and asked softly:

"Who's outside?"

After asking, no one answered, and no guard came in to report.

Tuotuo became suspicious, he blew out the light with a "poof", twisted his body, and he had already arrived at the door of the big tent.

He listened attentively, but there was still no sound outside, Tuotuo cautiously lifted the curtain slightly to look out.

There was no one at the door of the big tent, and none of the dozens of soldiers guarding the door.

Tuotuo knew something was wrong, but he didn't panic, he suddenly threw off the curtain, and his figure flashed out quickly.

As soon as his figure moved outside, a gust of dark wind suddenly struck beside him, Tuotuo flew in a hurry, dodged to the side, and suddenly turned around to see a erratic long silk "pululu" shaking towards him.

Tuotuo saw the sound of the wind coming from the soft thing, but it was extremely vigorous. He knew that he was facing a strong enemy, so he didn't dare to be careless. Kick it out and go straight to the other side's door.

Tuotuo is a master of both civil and martial arts, and his fists and feet are very good. It is only an instant to dodge the opponent's long silk and volley approaching, and it is very difficult to guard against. , when he kicked with one foot, held the long silk with both hands, and shook it lightly, the long silk immediately turned into a ring, facing his legs and was about to put it on.

Tuotuo was startled, and hurriedly spun in the air, dissipating the force of the kick, and kicked the opponent's wrist backwards with the other foot at the same time.

That person had no choice but to take a step back and withdrew the long silk.

Tuotuo never thought that he would encounter a formidable enemy in this wilderness, he also retracted his feet, turned over and flew more than ten feet away, then stood up, looked back at the man and said in a deep voice:

"Who are you! Why did you assassinate me?"

The man didn't answer.

Tuotuo said again:

"It seems that your methods are definitely not ordinary people! You should have a name, right?"

The black veil on the man's face moved slightly with the wind, and there was a little bit of cold light in his beautiful eyes, and he only said softly:

"Ask less and ask more! Today is here to kill you!"

After all, the long silk in his hand spun around in the air, the form was tactful, but the momentum was extremely strong, straight away.