wait a minute

Chapter 412 Winter Nether Mountain

"Ga~~Ga~~~"

At dusk and dusk, the streets and alleys of Yanjing were lit up with the lights of my mother's house, and the crows of crows came from high above, casting a haze on the imperial city which is located in the north of the city.

On the turret of the imperial city, Zhongsun Jin, who is over seventy years old, is standing against the wind in a dark brown robe, looking at the stars and the moon in the sky.

Beiliang Qianjimen is a pure Jianghu sect. A hundred years ago, it was not even on the stage, and it made a living by researching hidden weapons and other crooked ways.

However, Zhongsun Jin, one of the Four Sages, was enlightened by the Mohists when he was young. Since he inherited Qianjimen, he began to promote his own ideas, and had close contact with the imperial court. Beiliang vigorously developed metallurgy, manufacturing and other technologies. As well as national policies such as truce, economy, and trade, there are Zhong Sunjin's shadows behind them.

For these reasons, although Zhongsun Jin was not a teacher of the Northern Liang Dynasty, his status was quite detached. Emperor Liang also called him Mr. Zhongsun when he saw him, while people in Jianghu directly called him "Sage Zhongsun".

Although conniving the people in the Jianghu to toss their strange skills, and even giving normal martial arts equal social status, Beiliang has become unpopular, and the Jianghu is full of young people who don't pay attention to martial arts. The overall level of martial arts is on a backward trend, but the benefits are also obvious. .

Although it has only been a few decades, the Northern and Southern Dynasties have already been far ahead in medicine, metallurgy, etc., and then benefited from ships, military equipment and other industries. If the Southern Dynasty had not been too meticulous and had been infiltrating and imitating, both sides had already advanced in terms of armaments. Modern is bad.

Although Zhongsun Sheng does not advocate aggression and killing, he himself very much hopes that the world will be unified and wars will never stop. For this reason, all he has done in these years is to try his best to improve the national power of the Northern Liang Dynasty and completely unbalance the national power of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, so as to achieve a unified state. Conquer the southern border, or even subdue the enemy without a fight, so as to minimize the harm caused by the war between the two countries.

But it was a pity that things turned out to be contrary to expectations. With the help of national soldiers in Beiliang, the Southern Dynasty was not all waste that did not think about making progress. Especially in the past two years, the orphans of the Northwest Royal Court suddenly appeared, which directly put Beiliang at a disadvantage.

Ye Jingtang's martial arts is still second. After all, his manpower will eventually be exhausted, but his status as an orphan of the royal court is too tricky.

The tribes of the West Sea are tigers and wolves who are not familiar with them. They only recognize the blood passed down from their ancestors. They regard both the northern and southern dynasties as barbarians. Only when the 'Alliance of the Five Clans' was signed with the help of the Ministry of Winter and Darkness, outsiders couldn't blend in at all.

After Northern Liang annexed Western Xinjiang, they tried many methods to disintegrate this group of ancient elders, such as dividing and discord, pulling one faction against another and so on.

But the tribes in Xihai are too tough, and the power of the clan is greater than that of the patriarch. The patriarch who supports the North Liang can be replaced by his son, and his head is hung outside the ancestral hall. Only by being close to Beiliang and talking about revenge all day can he secure his position.

After the incident, Sima Yue committed suicide in Langxuan City. The disciples of the Gouchen tribe still regarded it as a shame. Seeing that people from other tribes could no longer raise their heads, they could only stand outside the door when they gathered, and had no face to enter the house.

With such a strong concept of ethnic groups, the concept that the tribe's honor and disgrace is greater than that of their parents is almost carved into the bones of a six-year-old child. Being ruled by the Northern and Southern Dynasties, for the Xihai tribes, it is the former servants and prisoners who are the masters. It was an impossible shame to accept, because no one else could be the Tianlang King at all.

And Ye Jingtang, as the orphan of King Tianlang, inherits all the ministries of the West Sea, which is reasonable and legal. If he wants to integrate the ministries, he will hardly encounter any internal resistance.

Moreover, Yejingtang has a close relationship with the empress of the Southern Dynasties. Although it has not been made public, in the hearts of those in power in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, they are the template of the 'Queen'.

The heirs born to Yejingtang and the Empress can legally inherit the royal lineage of the Northwest Royal Court and the Southern Dynasty, and the various ministries in the West Sea will never sing against it, so there may be some criticism in the Southern Dynasty, but it is much easier than other people to unify the two countries.

As long as the two countries become one, the tribes in the West Sea will have the Southern Dynasty as their rear, providing food, grass, ordnance, etc., and the Northern Liang will not be able to fight at all.

For this reason, as soon as they learned of Yejingtang's rise, Yanjing's senior management put the elimination of Yejingtang as the top priority, and almost used all the people who could be used. If King Zuo Xian can exchange Ye Jingtang for one, Bei Liang will make a lot of money.

After all, the death of King Zuo Xian in Beiliang was just the death of a Martial Saint, and there were plenty of successors to the throne, so it wasn't a serious injury.

But without Yejingtang in the Southern Dynasty, the only chance to control the western border without bloodshed was lost, and the Northern Liang had no worries.

After Zhong Sunjin received the news that the snow lake flowers were blooming, he actually felt that Ye Jingtang should not come to take risks. Ye Jingtang honestly stayed in Yun'an, which was the biggest threat to Beiliang.

But Ye Jingtang finally came, and completed the feat of revenge, and got the opportunity to win over the hearts of the people of various ministries in the West Sea.

If Ye Jingtang took advantage of this opportunity to reorganize the royal court, and when all the ministries in the West Sea heard that King Zuo Xian had been cut off, [-]% of them would flock to Ye Jingtang's position, and the remaining [-]% would just wait and see instead of reporting to Beiliang and continue to report to Beiliang. Beiliang is a running dog.

Coupled with the Southern Dynasties Empress Chen Bing at the border of Yazhou, this situation is like a storm for Beiliang, not to mention Zhongsun Jin and Emperor Liang, and even the people of Yanjing seem to feel the turmoil of the situation. The pressure from here is much quieter than before.

stomping on...

Zhong Sunjin looked at the jackdaws circling in the sky, thinking about the current situation secretly, when footsteps suddenly sounded from behind the turret.

Not long after, an eunuch in a green robe and a gauze hat walked out from the back of the turret, came behind Zhongsun Jin, and said respectfully:
"King Zuoxian died for his country in Tianlang Lake, and his body has been sent back to the Xihai Dufu Mansion; two thousand soldiers escorted Xuehuhua to the east of the lake, but encountered several waves of thieves on the way, and lost more than half; Ye Jingtang should have suffered in the fight. Injured, whereabouts are currently unknown.

"The Holy Majesty heard the news and couldn't sleep peacefully. He ordered our family to come over and ask, what countermeasures does Mr. Zhongsun have?"

Zhongsun Jin didn't look back, but said calmly:
"According to previous investigations, the Empress deduces six pictures of Minglong by herself. Even if she finds all five pictures, she is still short of the last picture of Mingshen. , in future negotiations, it will always be useful.”

The eunuch behind him, named Ziliang, is the head of the "Twelve Attendants of Yandu", and the eunuch is in charge of the chief inspector of ceremonies.Facing what Zhongsun Jin said, he shook his head and said:

"Ye Jingtang dared to go to Tianlang Lake, it was considered risky; coming to Yanjing to get the Dragon Calling Picture is no different from throwing himself into a trap. Even if he had the courage, the Southern Dynasty Empress would not agree to come.

"Yejingtang must be eliminated. Currently King Zuoxian has died for his country, and the only ones who can enter the pass to assassinate him are the national teacher and Mr. Zhongsun. Mr. Zhongsun thinks there is a chance of winning this move?"

Regarding this proposal, Zhong Sunjin directly shook his head and said:
"The chances of winning are between five and five, but no matter who I go with the national teacher, regardless of success or failure, we are doomed to go and never return.

"If the Holy Majesty really wants to take a risky move, he should let Zhongsun go with the national teacher. This will ensure that the killing is complete and one person will be returned afterwards."

The eunuch Ziliang sighed when he heard the words: "Mr. Zhongsun and the national teacher have both left the customs. In the border of the capital, Lu Taiqing, Beiyunbian and others can come and leave whenever they want, and the leader of Pingtian may even dare to come. act wildly.

"Assassination doesn't seem to work, our family will go to reply to the Holy Majesty and let the Holy Majesty make a long-term plan."

Zhongsun Jin nodded slightly and said nothing...
-
The other side.

Dongming Mountain is located in the center of the West Sea. The mountains extend to the southeast and connect to the sunset peaks in the northernmost part of Tianlang Lake.

Because the terrain gets lower as you go west, and there are high mountains to block the cold current from the north, the interior of the mountains and rivers is warmer. Not long after the first lunar month, there is a little greenery among the mountains.

The Dongming tribe is located between the mountains. It is not a fixed large tribe, but is composed of countless cottages. It stretches for more than a thousand miles along the mountains. There are also small towns and villages in some places. For the convenience of selling medicinal materials, a small town was built. He is a wealthy merchant and pharmaceutical farmer who travels from south to north.

Although Fan Qinghe's title of "King of Dongming" was given by an outsider, he is indeed the queen of the entire Dongming Mountain. All cottages and villages are under Fan Qinghe's rule. There are many idle princes in the two dynasties.

At dusk, the convoy loaded with snow lake flowers slowly drove into the mountains.

Dongfang Liren, who was riding on a horse, saw that the entire mountain range belonged to Fan Qinghe, and all he could see were the people. It was the first time he realized that Aunt Fan was more powerful than her, and she was a real prince.

But there was an elder sister of the emperor standing behind, and Dongfang Liren was not stage frightened. He walked beside Fan Qinghe and asked doubtfully:
"Miss Fan, you are the leader of this place. You have been running outside and not dealing with government affairs, so there will be no trouble?"

Fan Qinghe returned to his hometown. As the patriarch, he had to maintain a good manner and not laugh and laugh. For this reason, he looked very solemn and his makeup was quite particular. He responded with a serious smile:
"Within the clan, things are generally decided by the elderly. I usually listen to Grandma Gui. I only need to show up on big occasions such as Wanbuji, and I don't have anything to do at other times."

Dongfang Liren heard from Ye Jingtang that Granny Gui was the princess of the Qinchi tribe who married to the Dongming tribe, and also the wife of the old Zhuzong. He nodded immediately, and after walking up the mountain for a while, he asked curiously:

"How is the relationship between Miss Fan and Ye Jingtang calculated? His mother is your sister?"

?

Fan Qinghe's serious expression froze, and he looked back at the carriage where Ye Jingtang was, before whispering:
"Clan sister, all surnamed Fan, but farther away than cousin sister, basically out of reach..."

Dongfang Liren pondered for a while: "Concubine Tianlang must be a direct descendant if she can marry into the royal court; Miss Fan can inherit the position of Dazhu Zong at a young age, obviously she will not be a collateral descendant..."

Fan Qinghe didn't dare to count these at all. Seeing Dongfang Liren's questioning, he quickly explained:

"Well, the tribes in the West Sea are different from those in the Central Plains. Although the patriarchs have been passed down from generation to generation, if there are powerful young people in the clan, they can also rise to the position. I was selected as the patriarch because of my talent...

"There are many descendants of Fan, Jiang, and Zhou in the Dongming tribe, and not all of them are from the same family..."

Dongfang Liren listened for a long time, and felt that Fan Qinghe was Ye Jingtang's little aunt.But seeing that Fan Qinghe's face was flushed, he was afraid that Ye Jingtang would hear him, so he didn't ask any further questions. He slowed down and came to the carriage, raised the curtain to check the situation of Ye Jingtang.

The carriage was found temporarily and was relatively simple, but thick quilts had already been laid on the road.

Ye Jingtang was lying in it with a bandage on his upper body, his face was a little pale, and he was stroking Big Bird in boredom.

Niao Niao was also a bit bored, squatting on Ye Jing Tang's stomach with squinted eyes, round and flat when being touched, and when he found the curtain was open, he tilted his head: "Hey?" He looked like he was asking if he was going to eat up.

"Miss Fan just sent someone to the mountain to inform you that she has prepared a roast lamb for you, and you can eat it later."

"grumble!"

After Dongfang Liren comforted the bird, he looked at Ye Jingtang:
"How is your body?"

Ye Jingtang leaned against the carriage, glanced at the snowy top of the mountain outside, and said with a smile:
"It's okay, I'll be fine after a few days of rest, why don't you come in and sit and chat for a while, Your Highness? The road is quite boring."

Dongfang Liren accompanied him to set off the night before, and after rewarding Ye Jingtang once, he originally wanted to lie in the carriage with him and chat along the way.

But Ye Jingtang is usually hard when touched, and this time the internal balance of his body is even more so, he can't rely on it a few times, and he wants to touch Panglonglong.

Now that they are in the carriage, if they stir up the fire again, they can't mess around in broad daylight. For this reason, Dongfang Liren said very seriously:
"You are still recovering, so you need to rest alone. When you arrive at Dongming Mountain, you will have plenty of time to chat with you."

Seeing that Benben didn't get in the car, Ye Jingtang knew that Benben had misunderstood, so he said helplessly:
"I didn't want to do anything, it's just that the car is too boring, I just want to chat to relieve the boredom."

Dongfang Liren didn't think that lonely men and widows would lie together and would just chat and do nothing. Seeing that Ye Jingtang was really boring, he almost fell asleep with his hand, and asked after thinking about it:

"Are you bored?"

"There's nothing wrong with sitting here, it's really boring."

Dongfang Liren nodded slightly, put down the curtain and came to the front of the convoy, and said to Fan Qinghe who was still patrolling the people:
"Yejingtang feels very stuffy. It should be because of a problem with the energy channels. Miss Fan, go and have a look."

"Ok?"

When Fan Qinghe heard this, he naturally didn't dare to delay, slowed down his horse and came to the carriage, flew up and landed outside the carriage, bent over and walked in.

When Fan Qinghe arrived at Dongming Mountain, he had already changed into formal attire, that is, the dark purple high priest's attire.

The sacrificial attire was relatively loose and slim, and it didn't show your figure at first, but at this time Fan Qinghe bent over and pressed the skirt around his waist with his hand, two soft arcs appeared on the loose skirt, and the curve of the waist was undoubtedly revealed.

Because the skin is already fair, and the facial features are three-dimensional, coupled with the dark eye shadow that reveals a bit of mystery, the whole person looks majestic but also somewhat enchanting.

Ye Jingtang was still a little puzzled when he saw that Benben had left. Seeing that Miss Fan suddenly ran in, he put the bird who said hello with "Chichi~" out of the window, and moved a little to the side to make room:
"Miss Fan is really special in this outfit, it feels like a different person..."

Fan Qinghe was worried about Ye Jingtang's body, so he didn't exchange too many polite greetings. He sat down beside him, pulled Ye Jingtang's hand over to signal his pulse, and asked with a frown:

"Where do you feel bored?"

Ye Jingtang blinked his eyes, then understood his stupid thoughts, shook his head and said with a smile:

"There is no one to chat with in the carriage, it's just a bit boring, not chest tightness."

"..."

Fan Qinghe was speechless for a moment, knowing that he had been fooled, he let go of his hand and wanted to run away.

But Ye Jingtang managed to catch someone chatting, how could he let him run away, so he hurriedly said:
"It's all here. I just told me about the situation in Dongming Mountain. It's my first time here. I don't even know where it is."

Fan Qinghe thinks about it, it is broad daylight, and there are passers-by outside, Ye Jingtang can't be messed up in broad daylight, she hesitated a little, sat down next to him, and continued to help Ye Jingtang check his body:
"This mountain is the headquarter of the Dongming Department, and the local name is 'Dazhai'. Since the Liang Dynasty, the Dongming Department has taken root here; I heard from the old man that when King Tianlang received his relatives, he went up here. Mountain……"

Ye Jingtang followed the words and looked out of the car window. It can be seen that on the top of the mountain that he is climbing, it is not a cottage, but a complex of brick and stone buildings. The scale is not small, like a castle on the mountain, but there are old and new. The appearance is gradually formed by adding bricks and tiles from generation to generation.

Although he was already familiar with Fan Qinghe, Ye Jingtang never inquired about the situation of her home. When he arrived at the door of the house, he asked in a heartbeat:
"Uncles, aunts, and the others also live there?"

"..."

Fan Qinghe blinked, with a little helplessness in his eyes:
"Like you, I was born before Wang Tingguo was destroyed. I fought against Beiliang, and basically all the young men from all tribes went to the battlefield. They died in the Liaoyuan battle, and it wasn't just the clansmen of the Qinchi tribe.

"After I was born, I was brought up by Granny Gui just like the children in the clan. My parents both worked in the royal court. I didn't ask where I went after that..."

When Ye Jingtang heard this, he understood the result, sighed secretly in his heart, after a moment of silence, he persuaded again:

"I have wiped out King Zuoxian, and Beiliang will definitely be cleaned up in the future. You don't have to think about these things, I will just remember them."

Ye Jingtang was indeed cleaning up Beiliang, and Fan Qinghe, as a descendant of Wang Ting, was quite moved when he heard this.

But if she showed her thoughts, she might have to lean on her body to help push the stick to repay her kindness later. For this reason, Fan Qinghe just pursed her lips and smiled, and then pointed to a small village on the opposite side of the mountain:

"I grew up there when I was a child. When it is convenient for you to move around, I can take you there to see. In the past, when the witches came to steal things, they ran down the cliff in front, and the old Zhu Zong chased after them. I was there while watching...

"By the way, I don't know where the demon girl is. If she comes over, I will definitely parade her through the streets and let the people see who made trouble on the mountain..."

Ye Jingtang heard Shuishui, and to be honest, he missed him a little bit, and said with a smile:

"Shui'er is escorting the Queen Mother. She should be in Jingjie City. We can meet them when we go back. If we have time, we can come here again... By the way, Yuhu also wants to come and see. I don't know if there is a chance. .”

Fan Qinghe doesn't mind the empress of the Southern Dynasty coming to be a guest, but if she comes now, there must be a hundred thousand troops behind her; many people will die in the war, and she doesn't know whether she should expect the army to come, so she just said:
"Let's see if there is a chance then."

Ye Jingtang leaned in front of her, and saw Fan Qinghe looking out of the mountain in a daze, because the day before yesterday, Miss Fan did not resist, she thought about it a little, and put a little closer on her face, trying to enhance mutual affection.

It's a pity that as soon as he made a move, there was suddenly the sound of beating gongs and drums on the mountain in front of him, and there were dense footsteps approaching.

thump thump thump...

Fan Qinghe heard the movement, looked outside, and then got up quickly:
"Grandma Gui brought the clan elders to pick you up. I'll help you tidy up your clothes and hair. King Tianlang has to look like King Tianlang. When your father came here, he fascinated several mountains and girls. The family is rushing to be a dowry maid..."

Ye Jingtang noticed that a large group of old men and old ladies came out of the building complex on the mountain, and quickly restrained their thoughts of taking advantage, stood up and sat up straight and said unexpectedly:
"What happened is like picking up a new wife. You should keep a low profile, otherwise the news that I went to Dongming Mountain to seek refuge will spread, and you can't explain it to the outside world..."

"Don't worry, everyone on the mountain is my family, whether it's your uncle or uncle, or your aunt and aunt, there will be no news about you..."

"is it?"

"The middle-aged man in yellow at the front is called Fanlu, and he is Princess Tianlang's cousin. My name is Fourth Brother, and you can call him Fourth Uncle..."

"Uh...then what do I call you? Qinghe or Aunt Fan?"

"Oh, it's fine if you don't call me..."

……

While Fan Qinghe introduced the clansmen introduced by Ye Jingtang, they usually helped tie their hair, but when they saw Ye Jingtang's lips turned pale, they even wanted to give some rouge.

But Ye Jingtang is an old man, and he really didn't dare to make a fuss. After rubbing his face a few times to make his complexion look normal, he got out of the carriage with Fan Qinghe...

(End of this chapter)