twin moon

Chapter 10, Scene [-] First Acquaintance Part [-]

In the seventh year of Yuansui, on the eleventh day of the third month, Lucheng was in the evening of Ye State.

It was past midnight, and outside the palace wall, there was the faint sound of beating watch intermittently.A black horse with snow-white hooves also entered from outside the palace gate following the sound of clappers, galloped across the imperial street, went straight through three palace gates, and stopped at the stone steps in front of Zichen Palace.The imperial guards guarding the gate recognized the horse named Mo Yun Taxue, so they knew that it was the general Feng Zhao who had entered the palace overnight, and did not stop him at all.

The man on the horse looked about in his early forties, with a short beard around his lips, and he was covered in clear green clothes, trousers and a cape.He didn't wear any armor, and his hair was disheveled, making him look like a wandering ronin.

The man lifted the hem of his robe and climbed up the steps, and the pair of dark and red knives hanging on his waist also swayed with his steady steps.As the guard of the army and horses in front of Ye Kingdom Palace who commanded tens of thousands of forbidden troops in the city, and concurrently served as the commander of the boat division, he was the only general among the officials who could enter the palace with a sword.

As soon as the man's vigorous figure appeared, a short and fat figure outside the Zichen Hall immediately came forward:
"General Baili, you are finally here. The king has been waiting impatiently!"

"I have seen Lord Overseer."

The green-robed general bowed slightly.

Jinghai Hou Qi Shouyu on the opposite side is the elder brother of the current Lord of Ye Kingdom.His original name was Qi Heguang. He was originally smart and handsome, but because of a serious illness when he was nine years old, his face was full of pockmarks, and because of this, he was much shorter than ordinary people.But his nature is open-minded, even if the old king still decided to pass on the throne to his concubine's younger brother before his death, he did not show the slightest dissatisfaction, and even changed his name to "Shouyu" by himself, and tried his best to assist the new king, conscientiously .Because of this, Ye Guogong Qi Heyin also confidently handed over the seal of the commander of the boat division to him.

Ye State is the third largest vassal state in the Dasheng Dynasty. It is located on the west bank of Wanzhou, adjacent to Fu State, Huaiyou, and Weiliang.The original name of the country is Ye, but due to the abundance of talents in Wanzhou area, more than a thousand people have entered Beijing as officials in more than a hundred years.Because there are many plains and big rivers in the territory, the sunshine is abundant, and the vegetation is luxuriant, so the first emperor Baijiang Linran wrote a poem praising: "Muzhiyang is the Huaye", so the country was renamed "Ye". Still in use.

Ye Kingdom is located in the lower reaches of the Yanjiang River, the largest water in the south, and its sailing technology is quite exquisite. It has the largest fleet of sailors in the world, and uses the black sea falcon flag as its banner.It also used the Tianfury Strait in the southwest of the mainland as a natural barrier to curb the main routes of the southern states from the sea and land to the north.Therefore, even though the six countries in the southeast have been fighting for more than ten years, there has never been a single soldier in the country of Ye, and it has become a place of refuge for refugees from all over the world.

The two people in front of the hall clasped their fists and saluted, and stepped into the Zichen Hall one after the other.Right now, Ye Guogong, who is crowned and wearing a crown, black clothes and red belt, is sitting in the brightly lit hall, but there is no blood on his face, and there is some black and blue color on his lips. I don't know if it is because of lack of rest or For some other reason, his face was tired and frowning.

Qi Heyin was busy with everything, and many silver strands had already appeared in his hair, and he looked much older than Jinghaihou, who was several years older than him.In his hand, he was clutching a roll of silk script that Mo Crow had sent overnight, and there were still spots of blood on the silk script.

In the main hall, there is still a faint fragrance of precious cosmetics.I am afraid that the eldest princess who received the news from nowhere had already cried bitterly in front of her father for a long time because the life and death of her husband-in-law, who was leading the army, was uncertain.

Seeing that the person he was in a hurry to announce had arrived, Ye Guogong went straight to the point and said, "General Baili has worked hard, I don't know how the situation in the Yugu Lake camp is now?"

"My lord's condolences. In the camp of thousands of people, no one survived."

"No one survived? The son-in-law...Although our country Ye has not raised a war for a hundred years, it is absolutely impossible to be as vulnerable as the country of Yu! Could it be that Wei Liang and Cheng Guo secretly colluded this time and planned to cooperate with each other in the West?" Intrusion?"

The general's answer was obviously beyond Duke Ye's expectations, and his body, which was sitting on the throne, immediately tensed up.

"This is absolutely impossible. Wei Liang and Cheng Guo have always wanted to be the overlord of the four southern states, and they are wary of each other, even if tens of thousands of troops are deployed at the border. If Cheng Guo's Qingyue Cavalry wants to reach Yugu Lake, Then you have to go through the Guannan Hills, which will directly pose a threat to Jingshu, the capital of Weiliang Kingdom. That Luqiu Borong is not stupid, and will not make such a low-level mistake."

The tone of the general in green robe was very affirmative.But Jing Haihou, who was standing aside, couldn't help reminding:
"General Baili, you must not be so absolute in everything. Under the benefits, people's minds are not so easy to guess."

"Lord Overseer, please listen to me." The Qingpao General shook his head, and continued to answer loudly, "Actually, Wei Liang and Huai You had a fierce battle at the foot of Qinglan Mountain yesterday, but they didn't hear any news from any country. Good news. Therefore, I sent a quick horse to investigate overnight. And the facts have proved that my judgment just now was not wrong."

"How is the general's investigation?"

"The tens of thousands of soldiers and horses on both sides were all wiped out. Because of this, it is absolutely impossible for Wei Liang, who has just suffered a defeat, to regroup his troops to attack our Yugu Lake camp in just one day."

"The general is saying that both sides in the war will be wiped out? But right now, Huaiyou is no longer Wei Liang's opponent. Even if they die together, it is impossible to kill the other party without leaving anyone behind, right?"

Lord Ye could not help but lean forward.

"This is exactly what the general finds strange." The Qingpao General nodded, but did not continue.Seeing this, Qi Heyin immediately narrowed his eyes:
"General Baili, you seem to have something to say."

"It's all my conjecture, and there are no solid clues to support it. Let's not talk about it." General Qingpao hesitated, shaking his head.

"It's good to guess first. Based on my understanding of the general, you may be worried that the one who wiped out the ten thousand troops of Wei Liang and Huai You is also the one who attacked my camp at Yugu Lake?"

"Master Mingjian, that's exactly the case. And I'm worried that what the other party is looking for is not the land of our country Ye, but is looking for something important."

"how do I say this?"

"After the attackers captured the camp, they set fire to the entire camp and burned it to a piece of scorched earth. The purpose, in all likelihood, was to cover up their purpose of killing people and to leave certain traces in the camp that they did not want people to notice. "

General Qingpao said, but turned his head to look at the silent Jinghaihou beside him, "If I remember correctly, in the middle of winter last year, there was a tiger-headed flying fish boat that traveled thousands of miles under your command, Lord Governor. Going all the way north to Jinghui Bay, but sank for no reason on the way?"

Qi Shouyu responded without any hesitation: "The general remembers it well. In this way, a warship sailing out to sea a few days ago also happened to berth at the Yugu Lake camp that was attacked this time. Could it be the general's It means that there is a connection between these two things?"

An imperceptible surprise flashed in General Tsing Yi's eyes, as if he didn't expect the other party to guess what he was going to say:
"According to the reports from the scouts who came back from Dankou, the wreckage of the ship that washed ashore did not look like an ordinary shipwreck. The Tiger Head Flying Fish Ship is my elite sailor, and it is beyond the reach of ordinary pirates. Destroy. If there is indeed a connection between the two events separated by a few months, the opponent we have to face may be much more difficult than Wei Liang or Cheng Guo..."

The voice fell, but no one answered.The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became depressing, and the three monarchs and ministers just looked at each other in the flickering firelight.

"Forget it, even if there is a connection, it can't be found out in one night. However, if the group of people who attacked the camp went down the Yanjiang River, they might soon enter the garrison range of the cities along the coast— —”

After a long time, Ye Guogong broke the silence again, "Order you two to get up immediately, and deploy the boat master Yu Yuying to set up checkpoints at all the main roads along the coast from Mulu to Xiyin, so as to prevent the enemy from taking the opportunity to go ashore and plot evil. At the same time , and the rest of the battalions must also promptly send additional patrols along the Huaishui River and Zhihe River in the upper reaches of the Yanjiang River. If there are suspicious people, they will be detained immediately on the spot and interrogated strictly."

After the order was issued, the Qingpao general pressed down the hilt of his knife and half knelt on the ground, followed by the Marquis of Jinghai, who kowtowed his head to accept the order, expressing their obedience to the lord's order, and then respectfully withdrew from the gate of the Zichen Palace.

Stay outside the hall.The two walked all the way to the outside of the palace. After walking for a long time, the Marquis of Jinghai sighed again:

"General Baili, I have never seen my brother's face look so ugly since I assisted the government in discussing affairs. When I received the silk book last night, my heart beat for a whole night. I don't know if it is because of our relationship over the years. The days are too comfortable, because we are old and have lost the spirit of the past."

"Master Overseer is serious. In the final analysis, the incident happened suddenly, and it was too strange. But worries are worries. Just now, His Royal Highness still had reservations about the king. Now that I think about it, it seems that I, a subject, have committed a crime."

"What does the general mean by that?"

"To be honest, the scouts failed to find the body of any sneak attacker, no matter at the foot of Qinglan Mountain or in the camp in Yugu Hunan. I can't help but feel a little worried about leaving no trace after the murder. If he can really defeat thousands of elite soldiers of our boat division overnight, it is simply unimaginable. What kind of enemies Ye Kingdom will face next horrible……"

As General Qingpao said, he took out a wine gourd whose surface had already been worn white, took a sip and handed it to Marquis Jinghai. Twin moons, there seems to be a layer of haze in the eyes.

Qi Shouyu was stunned for a moment, and then the smile froze on his face.He stared at the solemn man in front of him, and finally raised his head and downed a big gulp of strong wine, unable to utter another word.

(End of this chapter)