in spring

Chapter 312

Under the city wall in front, two groups of soldiers were clashing. In a blink of an eye, one of them was hacked and killed the main force. Only a few remnants struggled to escape, and the other group of victors quickly caught up.Behind the victorious soldiers, there were several men in armor and ornate helmets riding horses with their heads held high. The leader looked around, with a smug smile on his face.

Hu Fei quickly lowered his head and hid his figure on the wall. After a while, he poked his head out carefully and looked over again. Seeing that the man had turned his eyes away, he bent down and walked to the stairs, and went down lightly. upstairs.

In the hallway downstairs, an Indian man in his 30s and [-]s was whispering to several people. When he saw him coming down, he asked with his eyes.Hu Fei smiled wryly and shook his head: "I think the third prince has a lot of momentum and the strongest military force. I'm afraid he has the greatest chance of winning. Brother Muhammad, you'd better find a way to leave as soon as possible."

The man lowered his face, exchanged glances with the others, and then said to Hu Fei in somewhat blunt Chinese: "I have to go, good friend, what do you do?"

"I have to go back and report to Shangfeng before I know what to do. I might ask you for help. About that matter..." Hu Fei didn't continue, but just stared at the man.

The man understood what he was referring to, and nodded solemnly: "I will do it."

Hu Fei gave an Indian salute with a smile, then quickly picked up a traditional white turban locally produced in Agra (Note: the capital of the Mughal Empire), wrapped it around his head, opened the small door, and looked outside to look left and right , closed the door behind his back, then bowed his head and hurried into the street.

He walked close to the buildings on both sides of the road, avoided several patrolling soldiers, walked through the deserted neighborhood, and walked in the direction of the embassy.

When he set off, he never thought that he would encounter today's situation, and every time he thought about it, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Originally, they set off from Liujiagang (now Taicang) and passed through Fuzhou, Jilong, Luzon, Champa, Old Port, Manlaja (Malacca) and other places. In order to save time, they followed the navigation notes of the predecessors and did not go to Xi Instead of going to Lan, Kochi and other places, they went directly north to Bangla (today's Bengal) and arrived at the eastern port of India. From there, they traveled westward along the Ganges River and finally arrived at Agra, the capital of India.The itinerary went smoothly. Although there were a few storms on the road, they were not big, and everyone survived safely.It was only after arriving in Agra that I realized that the facts were quite different from what I had imagined.

Now the reigning Indian king has been sick for some time, and the embassy has been here for several months, and has only met twice in a hurry, and they are just talking about the scene, and have never talked about any actual business affairs.If it was a Taiping period, it wouldn't matter if you wait a little bit. According to the comments of the waiters in the embassy, ​​the king's condition is not too critical.It was just unexpected that the illness of the Indian king caused the four princes to be suspicious of each other, and they clashed for the sake of his position.In the past two days, it has developed to the point where swords and soldiers are facing each other.Everyone in the mission was extremely uneasy. If they were involved, it would be no fun.This place is too far away from Daming, even if there is an emergency, the imperial court will not be able to rescue them, let alone send troops to take revenge.

Among these four princes, it would be considered good if the crown prince succeeds to the throne. He is modest, knowledgeable and polite, and has always been very polite to Prince Wen and his envoys, but the current situation is not very favorable to him.The third prince has the most powerful army and the most ruthless heart. If he wins in the end, no one will be surprised.That would be very bad!

Hu Fei remembered the ugly look on the third prince's face at the two banquets when he heard that King Wen believed in Buddha, and he couldn't help sighing.However, King Wen Jun was used to being respected in Daming, and he didn't like to drink the wine toasted by others, so he asked his followers to drink it for him, but he didn't expect that this happened to violate his taboo.The members of the mission couldn't say anything about King Wen, so they could only help smooth things over, but the third prince of India didn't look like a magnanimous person at all.

The more Hu Fei thought about it, the more depressed he became.He began to regret that he had come to participate in this mission.Even if he refused, the emperor would be angry, Hu Neijian would be angry, so what?They're not going to chop off his head, are they?He just went on living his little life.Originally, he had given up revenge, so fame, fortune and status were not important.There's nothing wrong with being a commoner.

Hu Fei touched his chest, feeling a warm feeling in his heart.Although he was wearing the white robe that the locals love to wear on the outside, the clothes Chunying made for him were on the inside.Every stitch and thread was done by his fiancée himself.Thinking of this, he seemed to have courage again.

It's just dangerous, and he won't let anything happen to him before he reaches a dead end.He will return to Daming safely, and from then on, he will guard Chunying with peace of mind, live his own life, and never go abroad again!

It was getting dark.Hu Fei rushed into the embassy, ​​and the members of the embassy who had been waiting for a long time closed the door immediately, and the deputy envoy who was second only to King Wen in the embassy rushed out from the room: "How? Have you heard any news?! "

Hu Fei told what he saw, and the envoy sighed repeatedly: "No, it seems that the third prince really won! I hope he won't hurt us foreign envoys!"

There was a loud bang in the house, and the angry voice of King Wen came: "Don't even think about me saluting that thing that has no king and no father! It's just that I drank a glass of wine from him, and he dared to show me face! His father is still sick. Thinking of usurping the throne! Now even my brothers are not spared! Such a bastard, why should I give him a good face!" Hu Fei smiled wryly, and hurriedly followed the deputy envoy into the house to comfort Prince Wen.

The deputy envoy said cautiously: "My lord, calm your anger. Although the third prince behaved badly, if he really becomes the king, we, the envoys, will naturally salute the king. The emperor's entrustment has not been done yet. .”

King Wen Jun just snorted from his nostrils and sneered.Since arriving in this country, he has been in a bad mood.

Hu Fei knew his thoughts very well, and persuaded him in a low voice: "My lord, there are no Buddhist temples in this country now, and the people either respect the Koran or believe in their own gods. This has a history of hundreds of years. The notes of the predecessors It is also mentioned in the above, why should the prince be persistent?"

Prince Wen just kept a straight face and ignored him, but judging by his expression, he seemed to be a little loose.Presumably he also understands this truth, but it's just such a result after all the hard work, how can he not be annoyed?

Seeing that he was wavering, Hu Fei hurriedly said: "My lord, the deputy envoy, originally there was civil strife in India, and he didn't do anything about the mission, but the third prince who had the highest chance of winning seemed to be a radical person who believed in the true God of Allah. He can't tolerate other religions. Ever since he heard that the prince wants to find the relics of the Buddha, and the adults don't want to follow his true god, he has been grim. The villain is worried that after he wins the throne, he will deliberately make things difficult for the prince and the adults. Besides There is endless chaos in the city, if there is a mistake that hurts the prince, everyone in the mission will bear the blame! Prince, my lord, how about taking shelter for a while?"

King Wen seemed taken aback: "How dare he do that?! We are the mission of Daming!" The deputy envoy also said, "Isn't it? Although the city is chaotic these days, no one dares to come here It shouldn’t be a problem if you come here to act wildly. Besides, since the third prince is interested in the throne, he naturally has some scruples in his heart, and we have never cared about his evil deeds. How could he get mad at us because of a trivial matter? Although Da Ming is far away, he is also It is a big country known to the world. He has not had the guts to take the risk of offending Emperor Tianwei to come to us to vent his anger."

Hu Fei shook his head and said: "Although Daming's prestige spreads far and wide, it is too far away, besides, the treasure ship has been at the port of Banggela, and Mr. Xiong also stayed with his soldiers in the barracks twenty miles away from the city. He has never entered the city. Come on. If there is an emergency, how can there be rescue in time? I am afraid that even the truth will not be passed back. After the incident, the third prince will just push the responsibility to the other brothers. There is no proof. what?"

The deputy envoy pondered for a moment, then asked: "What method do you have to deal with it?"

Hu Fei said: "I sold the five catties of high-quality tea that I brought a few days ago. The buyer is an Indian tea merchant. He followed us all the way from the port to the capital. He only said that he wanted to learn Chinese to do business with Ming. Seeing his eloquence and making friends with him in private, it was hard to find out his background. His family used to be an official. Because of his belief in Lord Shiva, he was regarded as a thorn in the side of the third prince. A few years ago, the whole family was convicted. He fled I was separated from my family at that time, and now I have found out the whereabouts of my relatives, so I dared to sneak back to the capital to investigate. I have prepared a big boat on the bank of the Zhumuna River in the north, and planned to pick up my relatives at midnight today. I told him that if we Go with him, and when we arrive at Banggela, we will let them board the boat and leave together. Earlier, I asked him to send someone to report to Lord Xiong, and Lord Xiong will lead his troops to join us by the river."

King Wen was taken aback: "What?! Why didn't you ask me what I meant with the deputy envoy before making an appointment?!"

The deputy envoy asked another question: "How big is their boat? Can it accommodate so many of us?"

Hu Fei bowed his head and said: "I know that this is a bit reckless, but when I made an appointment with someone, I also agreed on the time. After the time, we have not arrived yet, and that Mohammed brother is about to leave. I made an appointment with someone Yes, the lord and lord are not willing, I just lost a little money, Lord Xiong’s camp is also near the river bank, so it’s not a big problem to walk for a while. But if the lord and lord agree, this agreement may allow the missionaries to escape This is a matter of life and death, so a villain dares to make an appointment with someone." After a pause, he continued: "That man's boat is big, and it can accommodate 30 to [-] people. It is no problem. Besides, now It’s already summer, and the snow on the snowy mountains in the north melts and flows into the Zhumuna River. The water in the river is more than in winter, and the boat goes faster. As long as you go down the river, enter the Ganges River, and head east, you can reach Bang Ge La. The treasure ship we came on is still waiting there."

The deputy envoy hesitated and could not make a decision.King Wen also frowned and said: "Although you are thoughtful, we haven't done anything serious here yet. How can we just escape like this? Wouldn't it damage the prestige of the Ming Dynasty?" They all had a thought, that the Indians would not harm Foreign envoys.

Hu Fei wanted to persuade people to leave, so he hurriedly said: "Although we haven't discussed the business regulations with the King of India, the third prince is really worrying. We are helpless here, and Mr. Xiong is far away. If the third prince is annoyed, even if we talk about business matters, we won't be able to take advantage of it. It's better to retreat to the port first, guarded by Ming soldiers, and we can leave at any time. When the time comes to negotiate with the Indians, we will have more confidence .”

"You're right." Prince Wen said, "Let's see the situation first. If it's not good, then try to find a way to leave." Then he remembered another thing, "The Indian king built the tomb of his concubine, not looking for it. Have you bought a few craftsmen from Ming Dynasty? Poor thing, I have been away from home for decades. If the third prince is in power, I don’t know how to torment the people below. The deputy envoy sent a few people to find them, and bring them here too. Let's go together, so as not to save the people of Ming Dynasty from being harmed by the tyrant."

The deputy envoy had some reluctance on his face, but he still agreed and turned around to look for someone.Hu Fei was very disappointed by King Wen's answer. After stepping back and thinking about it, he decided to pack his luggage first, just in case, and the people who knew him in the mission also followed his suggestion to pack up. Luggage, and even the entourage around King Wen were also affected.

I thought that this night would be like the previous nights, spent in the clash of swords and soldiers and shouts, but I didn't expect that before the moon climbed to the middle of the sky, a group of soldiers suddenly came and shouted outside the embassy, ​​alarmed The entire Daming Mission.King Wen asked his followers in a panic: "What's going on?!"

A mission attache went around outside and came back to report: "Those soldiers are here for the English mission in the neighboring building, and have nothing to do with us."

Prince Wen heaved a sigh of relief.Only Hu Fei smelled the strange smell, so he rushed to the window to have a look from a distance, and shouted: "No way! They're going to set fire!" Everyone was shocked, and they ran to the window to have a look. Sure enough, they saw a fire burning outside the wall. There were several screams from the adjacent hall, and it was unclear whether it was the voice of the envoy or the waiter in the hall, so there was an uproar.

The deputy envoy made a quick decision: "Hurry up! Take your important luggage and leave immediately!" Then he called Hu Fei: "The tea merchant you mentioned has left?!" Hu Fei hurriedly said: "It's not even the hour yet!" Okay, then rush to the place where they parked the boat immediately, let's leave first!"

Everyone rushed back to their room to get their luggage, only those who had packed in advance were a little calmer, but Prince Wen had the most things, so where could he pack them?He himself saw that the fire was getting bigger and bigger, and the soldiers outside seemed to rush in at any time. He didn't know what punishment he would suffer in the chaos, so he ordered his followers: "Don't clean it up, run away first!" In a panic, he took a few things and left.

Hu Fei had taken a good look at the terrain before he fell asleep, and led the crowd from the backyard. He first went to the stable to lead the horses, walked through the grove, and turned into the street after a while.A group of more than twenty riders quickly headed north.And behind them, the entire embassy was engulfed in flames, mixed with curses, and even English cursing.

King Wen hurriedly looked back, feeling relieved: "What did you say? Why did you burn down the embassy?!" An attendant next to him said: "During dinner, I seem to have seen a prince's entourage go to the next door. Museum, but the small ones have never seen it clearly——My lord, be careful!"

It was too late to say it, but before he finished speaking, King Wen's horse had tripped over a stone on the road, he was thrown up, and he was about to fall to the ground. Hu Fei followed behind on his horse, seeing the situation Hastily stretched out his hand to grab it, and pulled him from mid-air to his horse, saving his life.King Wen Jun was panting across the horse, and with Hu Fei's help, he finally sat upright. His face was already pale, and he reluctantly said to Hu Fei: "Thank you..." Then he was frightened by the rockets that shot from a distance. His face turned blue.

"My lord's safety is of the utmost importance. Please sit still. The villain is going to speed up!" Hu Fei whipped the horse's buttocks with his backhand. far behind.

Hu Fei stared straight ahead and kept thinking of Chunying's name in his heart. However, as the shouts of pursuers gradually approached, he began to doubt whether he could really escape safely.

(Hu Fei was bubbling...the computer had a problem, and he almost thought he couldn't catch up...)
(End of this chapter)