Chapter 308: The Dharma God sent to intercept and kill, the empress’ arrangement
The princess left as gently as she came.
Taicang Mansion was busy with the follow-up of the case and had no time to say goodbye.
On the same day, with the assistance of two hundred cavalry, Magistrate Sun stabilized the situation and came to Zhao Duan in the evening to discuss the follow-up.
The next day, the sky turned sunny, and Zhao Duan got up and returned again under the complicated eyes of the local officials.
When they arrived, there were four carriages, and when they returned to Beijing, they were still the same.
However, the princess was no longer there, replaced by two prison cars that imprisoned the former chief envoy Gao Lian and the county magistrate Wang Chusheng.
"Da da..."
At the gate of the city, he watched the imperial envoys leave Taicang Mansion under the escort of cavalry, heading north and returning to the capital.
The officials headed by Sun Xiaozhun breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
"Now that I'm gone, I still don't know how the Holy Spirit will punish me."
Liu Yingcha, who had not yet been reinstated, had a sad face. He was afraid that the empress would be angry, so he directly ordered him to be punished for the crime of negligence.
Sun Xiaozhun, who was a blessing in disguise and whose meritorious deeds were performed, at worst equaled his merits and demerits, "hummed" and said:
"Master Liu is already old. If I were you, I would write a memorial and resign to His Majesty in advance. If you retreat, you will advance. Otherwise, you will not be able to save the rest of the year."
Should I resign? Liu Ji tugged at his beard and thought silently.
Sun Xiaozhun was too lazy to pay attention to him. He just rolled up his sleeves and watched the motorcade going away in the autumn morning, his eyes full of worry:
If Gao Lian goes to Beijing, will he really be able to be successfully punished?
“Back to the city.”
Magistrate Sun shook his head and stopped thinking, turned around and walked into the towering doorway.
…
…
South, on the official road.
The princess and her party have already left the confines of Taicang Mansion. Going forward, there is a smooth road leading to the Huai River.
"Drive." Lu Qingfeng, in a plain robe, acted as the coachman himself, and the carriage shook slightly.
The maid Lv Shui folded her arms and leaned her little head on the corner of the carriage, dozing off drowsily.
But Xu Junling couldn't sleep anyway, thinking: "At this time, it's time for the man named Zhao to set off."
I had been away from home for a long time, had seen a lot in Beijing, and then stayed in Taicang Mansion. I had gained a lot, and most of them were related to the emperor's sister's rumored boyfriend.
"When I go back and tell my father and brother, I'm afraid my father will be undecided again."
Shaking his head, Xu Junling dismissed many complicated thoughts.
I unpacked the books and wanted to read to relieve my boredom, but by some strange coincidence I picked up the "Geography of Taicang".
"...How can anyone give this to anyone..."
Xu Junling couldn't help but complain a second time, but he still opened it and was stunned.
I saw that there was a page hidden between the pages of the book.
Xu Junling's slender fingertips picked up the white paper with ink written on it, and then he was stunned. This was actually a poem.
Did that guy write poetry? So, giving books as a gift is fake, but giving poems as a farewell gift is true?
The princess, who thought her poetry talent was no less than that of the contemporary literati, sat upright, lowered her eyes and read silently.
"Mountain Travel"
Far up the Hanshan Mountain, the stone path is sloping, and there are people living deep in the white clouds.
Stop to have sex in the maple forest at night, the leaves are red with frost and the flowers are red in February.
The carriage "rolled" through the official road, and outside the window were the mountains in the distance. The mist in the autumn morning lingered on the high mountains, and the stone paths on the mountains could be faintly seen, winding into the clouds.
The autumn wind passed by, and the red maples all over the mountains and plains fell like heavy rain. The carriages and horses stopped to do... Huh?
Xu Junling's fingers holding the poem trembled, and doubts flashed in his eyes:
"Is this word written wrong..."
Then he realized it in hindsight, guessed the general meaning, and his cheeks were suddenly stained with crimson.
"Princess?" The maid Lv Shui rubbed her sleepy eyes with a confused expression.
Xu Junling clenched the paper into a ball and gritted his teeth:
"Wait until I turn around and tell Sister Huang..."
…
…
Anyone who travels often knows this.
For the same journey, the two have very different perceptions of time when going there and when returning.
When I left Beijing, I looked at the mountains and rivers all the way, but I felt sluggish.
When I returned to Beijing, it was much faster.
Without the princess chatting and joking, Zhao Duan felt dull. He lived in seclusion in the motorcade every day and spent most of his time on breathing and meditation.
"...Traveling on a business trip does delay your practice. When you return to work, you have to make up for the missed homework..."
"It's strange. I have been promoted to the Divine Chapter for a while, but I still can't see what is in the second "Nine Chapters Picture"... Sure enough, the higher the realm, the harder it is to practice..."
"Huh, calm down. For important things in life, you can't rush for success, but take 'three years', 'five years', and 'ten years' as cycles... This is the correct mentality and method of doing things. . As the saying goes, if you want to harvest a tree in ten years, you must plant it now..."
"Hey, another day of missing dual cultivation... Zhenbao, I don't want to work hard anymore..."
inside the carriage.
Zhao Duan let out a long breath, finished today's meditation, rubbed his face, and clearly wanted to go back not long after leaving the capital.
It’s really…
"Sir, something is wrong!" Suddenly, Qian Kerou's voice sounded slightly anxious outside the car curtain.
At the same time, the carriage began to slow down and there was a commotion outside.
Zhao Duan retracted his thoughts, raised the curtain of the car with his scabbard, and got out with half his body:
"What's wrong……"
Halfway through his words, he froze.
In the wilderness, between heaven and earth, a heavy fog suddenly appeared!
The mist came from nowhere. It just appeared at first, but after a few breaths, it became thicker and thicker to the naked eye.
The convoy was originally driving on the Mianchang Official Road, but within a short time, the front, rear, left and right sides were engulfed by thick fog. The field of vision shrinks sharply.
"Xilulu..."
Around the team, the escorting horses stamped their hooves uneasily and made low neighing sounds, as if they were restless.
"Alert! Form a circle!"
Yuan Xingjun, the deputy general who carried the flag, shouted loudly. He was on his horse, had already drawn his sword out of its sheath, pointed at the sky, and gave instructions loudly.
A group of tough soldiers quickly surrounded several vehicles in the team, dismounted, drew their swords one after another, and formed a defensive formation vigilantly, staring at the billowing white fog around them.
In the prison car, Gao Lian was also awakened.
He looked around in confusion, the shackles on his body rattling. It seemed very unexpected.
"Master Zhao, something is wrong. How can there be such a big fog at this time?"
Censor Chen Hong looked solemn and came over.
Hou Ren grasped the handle of the knife fiercely, and the thorn pointed like a powerful enemy:
"Magic! This is definitely not a normal celestial phenomenon. Only magic can do it!"
Zhao Duanyue got out of the car and his heart sank when he heard this: "You mean, there is a warlock hiding nearby? Can you see the calendar?"
Shen Juan also drew his sword with a "rubbing" sound, turned his back to them, looked outside warily, and said quickly:
"There are so many magic techniques in the world that it is impossible to be sure, but it can cast a thick fog in the suburbs so quickly. There are similar records in the Yamen. In the case in the file, it is also like today!
The caster is a magical magician from the 'Fog God Sect' nicknamed 'Fog Ghost'. He holds a weapon in his hand that can spread the fog of war. It is said that he believes in the god 'Fog Lord'..."
Qian Kerou's face changed slightly: "I have read that file too. It is said that the fog spread by the fog ghosts sent by the Dharma God is like a maze. Once you fall into it, you can only stay where you are and don't split up and go out to find the way. , otherwise you will fall into a 'cognitive barrier' and be unable to find your way back.
However, it is said that the fog ghost is not good at killing and can only trap the enemy. Therefore, every time he takes action, he is accompanied by another magician from the Dharma God Sect. He can control the Vine Armor Man and is extremely difficult to deal with! "
Dharma God Sect?
The largest group of warlocks in the world?
Zhao Duan frowned and held the Frost Sword at his waist. His mind quickly analyzed and guessed whether the other party was coming for him or Gao Lian.
Kuang Fu She? Or the Eight Kings? Or some wealthy families?
“Swiss, swiss, swish…”
Before they had time to think about it, a rustling sound suddenly sounded in everyone's ears, accompanied by an exclamation:
"Vines! There are vines coming from the fog!"
Zhao Duan took a closer look and saw that with the convoy as the center of the circle, in the mist in all directions, there were countless vines spreading like a tide on the ground.
Then, another blurry human-shaped black shadow gradually emerged from the fog.
There were more than ten of them, coming from different directions.
When the real appearance was revealed, people couldn't help but take a breath, they were actually "weirdos" covered in vine armor.
Holding a sword in his hand, his figure is larger than that of an ordinary person.
"Tengjia people! The Dharma God sent them to intercept us!" Shen Juan exclaimed.
I knew... I would not be safe on my trip out of Beijing... Why did these people wait for me to return before showing up?
Is it because I was so embarrassed that I came here, or because I was surrounded by guards from the royal palace before?
Zhao Duan took a deep breath, his wrists lightly covered with frost, and was about to give the order to meet the enemy.
But at the moment when it was about to break out.
Suddenly, all the vine-armored people stopped and stopped at the same time.
Then there was a sharp, angry, and frightened sound.
Immediately, under the stunned eyes of everyone, the vine-armored man who was about to attack turned around at the same time and quickly escaped into the mist.
Even the vines spreading like a tide on the ground shrank and receded quickly.
"What's going on?"
Censor Chen Hong was cowardly in the carriage, and now she poked her head out: "Is there any record of what kind of attack method this is in the file?"
Shen Juan's expression froze and he shook his head, indicating that there was no record.
Qian Kerou analyzed:
"Is it to lure the enemy deeper? You want to trick us into pursuing and investigating the situation so that we can separate them. Don't forget that if you fall into this fog, you will lose your way back!"
Hey, the silly little secretary reacts very quickly at critical moments... Zhao Duan, who is in the "Divine Chapter" realm, has keen perception and clearly senses that hostility disappears quickly...
"Don't pursue, wait."
He said solemnly, between risk and stability, he chose Gou.
…
…
at the same time.
In the mist, about a mile away from the convoy, in a mountain col.
A skinny old man wrapped in a wild Taoist priest's robe sat cross-legged, his hands hanging in front of him, and thin lines condensed by green smoke hanging between his fingers.
Each line is connected to a palm-sized vine-armored man on the ground.
At this moment, the old Taoist priest's eyes were filled with fear, feeling the vague murderous intention surrounding him, and he frantically controlled the Vine Armor Man to return to defense and run towards him from a distance.
"Creak." However, the next second, a clear sound of stepping on vines sounded behind Lao Dao.
Immediately, without waiting for his reaction, a palm gently pressed on the head of the Dharma God Sect killer.
Lao Dao's head instantly cracked, red and white spewed out, and he fell straight down in the mountain col. The green vines covering the ground with him as the center withered instantly.
The many vine-armored men who rushed back to defend suddenly froze, lost their lives, and turned into windy sand.
"Humph, a bunch of miscellaneous fish, how dare you act so recklessly."
The owner of that hand chuckled and slowly took it back.
It was a mysterious man wearing a cloak, with a slightly stooped figure, and a black hood covering his head.
At this moment, the mysterious man slowly adjusted his hood, revealing a face full of wrinkles but with eyes as clear as a child's.
Eunuch Hai glanced in the direction of Zhao Duan through the thick fog and muttered: "Your Majesty is really sure."
Immediately, the old eunuch in python robe turned around, squinted his eyes, judged the direction with his warrior sense, and took a step slowly:
"Haha, don't even think about running away."
(End of chapter)