Aspirations

Chapter 35
Who will look for him?Xia Xiang went out to look, and couldn't help being stunned, the courtyard was already tense.

Xiao Wu stood under the dripping eaves, as if he was facing a big enemy, his eyes wide open, his hands clenched, his legs straightened, and his shoulders stretched hard, as if there were ferocious tigers and wolves in front of him. There is only one woman standing with a sword behind her back.

Yes, it was a little lady with a sword in her hands and her eyebrows lowered.The little lady was dressed in black, wearing light boots, with a graceful figure, thin shoulders and wide hips, and a light gauze hat on her head.She stood indifferently, her clothes moved automatically without wind, as if she was floating in the dust.

She is just a weak little lady, how can Xiao Wu be so nervous?Xia Xiang laughed secretly, just in time to say a few words to Xiao Wu, but the little lady suddenly moved.

She first let out a soft "Hey", then took a half step forward with her right foot, only half a step, still raised her foot and stepped lightly, landing silently, but Xiao Wu jumped up suddenly like an arrow leaving the string, with both fists Straight out, like a wind and thunder, it hit the little lady's shoulders.

"Xiao Wu, don't be presumptuous!" Xia Xiang was quite surprised, Xiao Wuyi's strength was astonishing, if he was hit by his fists, the little lady would be seriously injured even if she didn't die.

For the first time, Xiao Wu didn't obey Xia Xiang's orders. He kept his feet and approached within a foot of the little lady in a blink of an eye.The little lady seemed to be petrified, standing there, motionless.

Not good, Xia Xiang was shocked.Xiao Wu has never been so reckless before, why did he kill him as soon as he met today without waiting for him to open his mouth? He shouted: "Xiao Wu stop! Little lady, get out of the way!"

Even if Xiao Wu wanted to stop at this time, it was too late. According to common sense, the little lady would not have a chance to give way to Xiao Wu's wind and thunder.It's broken, Xia Xiang closed his eyes, Xiao Wu has caused a big disaster.If he really wanted to beat the little lady half to death with one blow, although Xiao Wu would not be able to escape the punishment of the government, he would also be implicated, and maybe he would even be disqualified from the exam.

How could this be?Xia Xiang didn't dare to look any further.

The moment Xia Xiang closed his eyes, he glanced out of the corner of his eyes, and found that the little lady moved suddenly, only slightly shifted her body, that is, her shoulders moved, her feet remained where they were, and Xiao Wu's wind and thunder suddenly moved. Hit and miss.

Xiao Wu missed a single hit, and his momentum remained undiminished. He rushed forward for more than a foot before he was able to stand firm.He was sweating profusely, and his face was distorted from being too tense.Turning around to look at the little lady, his eyes were confused and flickering, and after a while, he regained his calm, and there was a spirit in his eyes.

"Sir, I... I didn't know what happened just now, I just couldn't control myself." Xiao Wu glanced at the little lady, still a little bit frightened, and fell to his knees with a "plop", "Please sir Punish me for my mistakes."

Xia Xiang's anger still persisted in his heart, and he said angrily, "I'll punish you to face the wall and think for three days!"

"Yes, sir." Xiao Wu didn't complain at all.

"I don't blame him, he can't help himself. He is a martial arts genius, but the strange thing is that he has a foundation in martial arts, but he seems to have forgotten his moves." The little lady looked at Xia Xiang through the veil, "You Is that Xia Xiang Xia Langjun?"

Xia Xiang was startled, the little lady was no one, her guess about Xiao Wu was exactly the same as his judgment about Xiao Wu, but Xiao Wu had been with him for a long time, and the little lady and Xiao Wu only saw each other once.

Xia Xiang cupped his hands and saluted: "I'm here, I don't know why the little lady is looking for me?"

"Can you talk in the room?" The little lady spoke in a consultative tone, but she kept walking and walked into Xia Xiang's room involuntarily.

Could it be that he has a good face and the little lady has no defense against him?Xia Xiang's eyes inadvertently fell on the graceful back of the little lady. She has thin shoulders, waist and hips, hair like a waterfall and neck like jade. Although she hasn't seen her face clearly, just looking at her figure and back, you can tell that she is a peerless woman. Beautiful little lady.

Thinking about it again, the joking heart in Xia Xiang's heart suddenly disappeared, and just now the little lady deflected Xiao Wu's wind and thunder strike with a raised hand. Her martial arts are so advanced, I am afraid that she can take off his neck with a single sword head.The little lady's sword never leaves her body, and she stands with her sword in both hands. She has the heroic posture of a knight-errant and an astonishing sense of immortality.

Fortunately Zhang Hou and Shen Bao were not here, otherwise they would have to ask endless questions. Xia Xiang invited the young lady to take a seat, and after serving tea, he asked: "There are no outsiders here, young lady, but it's all right."

The little lady took off the hat on her head, revealing a beautiful face.If it wasn't for her pale face, her demeanor would not be inferior to Cao Shuli's.However, compared with Cao Shuli, she is still a little less dignified and elegant, and more eccentric and indifferent.

"Mr. Xia Lang, my name is Mantuo, I just came from Zhongshan Village, Lingshou County..."

"What?" Xia Xiang was startled, and suddenly stood up, "Little lady, do you have a letter to pass on?"

"Just call me Mantuo." Mantuo remained calm, stretched out his right hand, motioning for Xia Xiang to sit down, "Let me ask you first, do you know someone called Xia Quo?"

Xia Xiang also felt that he was too surprised. He sat down slowly, and just as soon as he sat down, he stood up again suddenly: "Xia Qu? Is there any news about Xia Qu, my lady?"

Man Tuo didn't speak, but nodded slowly, his eyes jumped on Xia Xiang's chair, Xia Xiang understood, smiled apologetically, and sat down again hastily.

"I'm sorry, Xia Laixia and I are going to say goodbye on the cliff. Their lives and deaths are uncertain, and I have always been concerned about them. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Mantuo's voice was very light and light: "The matter was caused by Huaguan and Muen..."

Xia Xiang naturally didn't know who Hua Guan and Mu En were, but after listening to a series of things that Mantuo said, he was overwhelmed with shock.

It turned out that Mantuo took a boat down the river from Zhongshan Village, and when he arrived at Lingshou County, it was already late at night.She docked the boat and stayed at the Yuelai Inn.Not long after staying here, he noticed someone following him.After a secret investigation, it turned out to be Hua Guan and Mu En.

Mantuo followed Huaguan and Muen all the way from Shangjing Happy Forest to Zhongshan Village. She wanted to kill Huaguan and Muen after Zhongshan Village was over.Not wanting to have another Dong Qiniang and Dong Si on the way, and because of Wei Xiaoba's death, she changed her mind. She wanted to go back to Beijing to see Xia Xiang, and handed over the letter.

Unexpectedly, Hua Guan and Mu En are so bold that they dare to follow her behind, so she is ready to kill again.

In order to find out the purpose of the two people following her, Mantuo rode to Zhending Mansion early the next morning, and waited for Huaguan and Mu En for a long time before seeing the two people who arrived listlessly from Yihong, yawning. out of the hospital.She sneered secretly, is a dying person still in the mood to seek flowers and ask willows?What a pity.

Man Tuo deliberately did not go north to Beijing, but went south from Zhending Mansion along the official road, leading the two to the south.Hua Guan and Mu En thought that Man Tuo hadn't noticed them, so they made up their minds and followed behind quietly, waiting for an opportunity to strike.The two also knew that martial arts were far from being Mantuo's opponents, they could outsmart them if they were incapable, not to mention that for them, plotting behind the scenes with poison and medicine was the housekeeping skill.

Xingzhou is the first stop when going south.Xingzhou is a big city, and further south is the famous ancient capital Handan.Although Xingzhou is not as prosperous as Handan, it is also an ancient city with a long history.When he arrived in Xingzhou, Mantuo stayed at Quanyou Inn.

It was night, Huaguan and Mu En felt that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, so they tried to use drugs to stun Mantuo while Mantuo was fast asleep.The two of them must have done a lot of sneaky things before, one was blowing medicine on the roof, and the other was sending medicine in from the window below, with two prongs, they must take down Mantuo in one fell swoop.The two hated Mantuo to the bone and coveted it. If Mantuo was pressed under their bodies and played at will, not only would they be ashamed, but they could also feel proud. How wonderful it would be.

Half an hour later, when the two thought that Mantuo would be unconscious even if he was a god, they quietly opened the window and entered through the window.There was a person lying on the bed with a graceful figure, lying on his side, sleeping soundly.The two looked at each other and smiled lewdly.

The two wrapped the person on the bed in a quilt, carried them out of the room, mounted their horses and galloped to an abandoned courtyard on the outskirts of the city.If it was just to rape Mantuo, the two of them wouldn't have to work so hard. Their wishful thinking was to play with Mantuo well, then kill Mantuo, and then destroy the corpse.In this way, the abandoned courtyard is the best place.

The two of them couldn't wait to open the quilt and take a look. They were stupid on the spot. There was a mantuo who was as beautiful as a peach blossom in the quilt. It was a scrawny old man.The old man slept soundly, with snot running all over his face, and the two jumped up in disgust, only to realize that they had been fooled.

As soon as she turned around, Mantuo stood behind her holding her sword. Under the moonlight, Mantuo dressed in black looked like a fairy in the dark night, but her indifferent eyes and cold expression made people feel unreasonable at all. Awe.

Hua Guan and Mu En were more than awe-inspiring, they were scared to death.The two of them looked at each other, had the same mind, nodded heavily, lit up their weapons at the same time, held the heart of mortal death, and rushed forward at the same time...

After only three steps, the two threw their weapons at the same time. "Plop" knelt down on the ground, crying: "Woman, please spare my life! We will never dare again, please, please!"

Man Tuo was startled instead, she thought that the two of them were really going to fight to the death, but it was beyond her surprise that they were so useless.She thought for a moment and said, "If you tell the truth, I can spare you from death."

"Young lady, just ask, no matter what you ask, as long as we know, you will know everything." Hua Guan didn't know when Man Tuo had transferred him, anyway, all he knew was that if he didn't humbly beg for mercy now, The head can fall to the ground in an instant, and life-saving is the most important thing, so he doesn't care so much, "Whether it's about the third prince or the emperor, as long as we know, if we don't tell the truth, there will be thunderbolts."

Mu En rolled his eyes speechlessly, Hua Guan was too promising, he had to tell the truth first if no one else had any problems, it really made people wonder if it was his butt rather than his brain that he lived for so long.

Mantuo originally only planned to ask about the Third Prince, but instead of Huaguan reminding her, she put her sword on the ground and asked, "Why did you come to Zhongshan Village?"

"us……"

"us……"

Hua Guan and Mu En spoke in unison and rushed to answer at the same time.Man Tuo frowned, and pointed at Huaguan with the tip of his sword: "Say it."

"Okay, I'll say it, I'll say it." Hua Guan nodded gratefully, and did not forget to raise his eyebrows at Mu En triumphantly, and then said, "The third prince sent us to Zhongshan Village to inquire about Xia Xiang's life experience..."

"Hey..." Mu En couldn't stand Huaguan's flattery and ugliness, and sneered, "Okay, stop bragging, what about the Third Prince, as you and I, being able to see the Third Prince is also the ancestor who burned incense Yes. It is clear that Yan Hao sent us here, and if you insist on calling him the third prince, you can really talk nonsense with your eyes wide open."

"I..." Hua Guan was impatient, and his neck stiffened, and he wanted to argue with Mu En, but was frightened by Man Tuo's indifferent and cold glance, and quickly changed his words, "No noise, no noise , I continued, don’t be angry, little lady. Mu En is right, it was Yan Hao who sent us to Zhongshan Village to find out about Xia Xiang’s background. In Zhongshan Village, we don’t know whether it’s his order or Gao Taiwei’s intention or the third prince’s order, anyway, we can only obey what Yan Hao asks us to do, and if we don’t obey, we will die.”

"Stop talking nonsense." Man Tuo unsheathed the sword in his hand, the light of the sword flashed, and a piece of the rockery behind him was forcibly cut off.

Mu En swallowed a mouthful of saliva, he was really frightened, he knew very well how hard the rockery was, and with his strength, he could only cut it down the size of a fist when he chopped it down with a knife in both hands.The little lady Mantuo casually waved her hand and chopped off a stone the size of a human head.Compared with Shishi, his and Huaguan's necks were much softer.

"Don't dare, dare not." Huaguan was so frightened that his face paled, and he said hastily, "Yan Hao told us all the things related to Xia Xiang that we found out from Xia Xiang's mother, including the relationship between Li Dingshan and Xia Xiang, who is Xia Xiang's father? Who, and who is Xia Xiang's mother, it turned out that Xia Xiang's mother was already dead, so it was a waste of time and almost lost her life, it's really unlucky."

"Yanhao? Yanhao." Mantuo remembered Yanhao's name firmly. She pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you know why the third prince is so curious about Xia Xiang? Xia Xiang is just a name in Zhongshan Village. Just an unknown boy."

"I'll just follow orders, how can I know what the prince is thinking..." Huaguan shook his head.

"I can guess one or two." Seeing the opportunity to show, Mu En hurriedly raised his right hand high, and returned Hua Guan's sharp look proudly.Hua Guan was so angry that he raised his fist to demonstrate against Mu En.

Mu En ignored Huaguan, and said flirtatiously: "Li Dingshan is the third prince's confidant, and Xia Xiang is Li Dingshan's only student. When Li Dingshan was an official in Shangjing, he vowed not to accept a single disciple in his life. After he escaped to Zhongshan Village, he actually taught Xia Xiang for three years. With Li Dingshan's talent, if he taught a person carefully for three years, even if this person is mediocre, he would teach him to become a great talent. If Xia Xiang himself is a talent, With Li Dingshan's teachings, wouldn't he become an incomparable talent? The third prince wanted Li Dingshan to be used by him a long time ago, and three years ago he asked Li Dingshan to be the guest minister of the palace, but Li Dingshan flatly refused, which made the third prince very embarrassed. Li Dingshan was right The third prince was disrespectful, and actually wrote a letter to the emperor asking the emperor to issue an edict to take away the title of the third prince. His intentions were so sinister, how could the third prince tolerate him? It would be fine if he didn't kill him, but the third prince just let him go to sea, and let the past go without blaming him when he left Daxia. Li Dingshan is not grateful to the third prince, but he is still hiding in Zhongshan Village, and secretly wrote a letter to the emperor, listing the ten crimes of the third prince. In a rage, the third prince found out that Li Dingshan did not go to sea, but hid in Zhongshan Village. Then Gao Jianyuan and Yan Hao were sent to take him to the capital, but he was so cunning that he heard the wind and ran away..."

Manto was also patient and listened very carefully.Seeing that Mantuo was very interested in what he said, Mu En became even more excited.

"Li Dingshan didn't go to sea three years ago, and now if he escapes from Zhongshan Village, he will definitely not go to sea. The third prince believes that Li Dingshan must return to Beijing. Now when the emperor is critically ill and the throne is unknown, the appearance of Li Dingshan must make the third prince feel uneasy. It's just that Li Dingshan is too cunning, and he has internal support in the capital, so the third prince has never found out his whereabouts. Yan Hao sent me and Huaguan to Zhongshan Village, presumably it was the intention of the third prince. Xiang found the place where Li Dingshan landed, so that Li Dingshan could be captured. Unexpectedly, Xia Xiang’s mother died sooner or later, but she died at this time..." Mu En didn't have any thoughts about Song Dingniang's death, but he also felt it faintly. It's too much of a coincidence, but I also believe that the villagers of Zhongshan Village will not lie.This trip out of Beijing was a waste of time, and I also met the nemesis Mantuo, which can no longer be described as bad luck, it should be said that it is a fleeting bad luck.

Hua Guan felt that Mu En talked too much, so he coughed a few times: "Cough, cough! Mu En, you really think you are a fairy, and you can guess what the third prince is thinking. Why don't you think about it carefully?" Think, the Third Prince really wants to find Li Dingshan’s whereabouts from Xia Xiang, why not go directly to Quanyou Inn to find Xia Xiang? If you have to come to Zhongshan Village to inquire, don’t you look far away?”

Man Tuo also had this doubt, and wanted to ask clearly, but unexpectedly Hua Guan said it for her, so she didn't bother to ask again, and looked at Mu En.

Mu En laughed dryly: "You don't understand, Huaguan, who is Xia Xiang? He is a scholar, a scholar. He lives in the Quanyou Inn, and the Quanyou Inn is full of scholars, the third prince. He has a clear name, loves the people like a son, and does not win over the hearts of scholars in the world. Even if he inherits the throne in the future, he will be scolded to death by scholars. Therefore, even if Xia Xiang is under the eyes of the third prince, he will not touch Xia Xiang. A single hair."

"No, no, your statement is wrong." Hua Guan didn't want Mu En to show off too much in front of Man Tuo, he shook his head repeatedly, and kept waving his hands, "It's not that the third prince is afraid of being scolded by scholars and dare not touch Xia Xiang, but It's King Jing who is also planning on Xia Xiang's idea, the Third Prince is wary, and dare not annoy King Jing because of Xia Xiang, who knows whether King Jing's idea of ​​Xia Xiang is to let Xia Xiang be used by him, or has ulterior motives?"

(End of this chapter)