Zheng Miao nodded and said: "Then we must act quickly. The sooner we leave Lingnan Road, the better!"
Qiu Yizhi agreed and summoned Zhao Chengxiao. Just when he was about to order the formation to reorganize and march north along the same route as when he came, he heard a voice coming from behind: "Your Highness, Third Highness, Your Highness, please stay!"
Qiu Yizhi was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and hurriedly followed the sound, only to see a tall man in gorgeous clothes on a hill and cliff behind him, surrounded by Lingnan Road sergeants, shouting to him.
Looking closely, he saw that the person speaking was none other than the King of Lingnan, Zheng Gui, who was still very ill yesterday. However, he looked very majestic now, the same person who was so ill that he only had half a mouth left of him the day before. The King of Lingnan seemed to be in love with each other.
But I heard the King of Lingnan continue to say: "You two, I haven't fulfilled my friendship as a landlord, so why should I leave without saying goodbye?"
Qiu Yizhi listened to the voice of King Lingnan, which was full of energy. Even though he was separated from a mountain that was about ten feet high and a distance of twenty or thirty steps, Qiu Yizhi still heard clearly that King Lingnan's previous serious illness was obviously an act. .
Qiu Yizhi knew that he had fallen into a trap, and he refused to suffer even more. Hearing what King Lingnan said, he was about to retort, but was overtaken by his third brother Zheng Miao, who said: "Uncle King, You have connected with the Tianzun cult and intend to rebel against the imperial court. We left quickly for the sake of the uncle and to prevent the young people around the uncle from having any evil intentions. Even though I am a junior, I want to ask the uncle to rein in the situation. Hand the rebel Wen Honghui over to the court, and everything will be fine from now on."
Zheng Gui listened and laughed loudly: "What a sharp mouth. I saw the right person. Anyone who can escape from my dragnet must have some skills. To tell you the truth, if there is a mediocre person behind my imperial brother, Lord, I can probably wait. My imperial brother is a discerning person, and with your nephew’s talents, you will most likely be the one to take the throne in the future. My descendants will definitely not be your opponents by then. If I don’t strike first, I’m afraid that our Lingnan Prince’s family will no longer have a place to live.”
Zheng Miao felt sad after hearing this - the person who commanded the army to escape from the danger was not his, the emperor's third highness, but Qiu Yizhi, the adopted son of the emperor - but he said: "As long as the uncle leaves Lingnan Road, my nephew I am willing to guarantee with my wealth and life that my uncle and his brothers will be rich and prosperous forever. If you don’t believe me, let’s look at Uncle Heluo. Isn’t it a beautiful thing in the world to enjoy glory and wealth like him?”
Zheng Gui laughed a few more times: "I am the King of Lingnan when I am on Lingnan Road; I am the King of Lingnan, so you have to protect my wealth; if I leave Lingnan Road, I am not the King of Lingnan... Hum! When I was young I have also done things for the imperial court. I know better than you the credibility of the imperial court!"
These few words made Zheng Miao irrefutable - whether it was to the common people, gentry, officials, or even the princes and relatives, the imperial court would not be stingy with small favors, but when it came to ruling in its own interests, it was cold-faced and ruthless, and never said anything. When it comes time to calculate - although I sincerely agreed here, when the emperor turns his face, his previous promise will be like waste paper.
The King of Lingnan, Zheng Gui, stood on the hill, looking down at Zheng Miao from a distance, but as if he could see through his heart at a close distance, he chuckled twice: "Your Highness, the Third Highness, is very articulate. It seems that he has nothing to say, right? What I said is true, so it cannot be refuted. Well, if you can escape from the top of Shicheng here today, it is because I have suffered a loss and fallen behind. You go! We will see you and my nephew again in the future. It will definitely be a battle on the battlefield, and when the time comes, I hope that due to today's fate, I can be noble and show mercy... "
Qiu Yi saw that Lingnan King Zhenggui was so charming and powerful that he would definitely be a formidable enemy that would be difficult to defeat in the future. If he could not be killed as soon as possible, he might die in his hands another day.
So Qiu Yizhi secretly called Yuchi Jiming and asked in a low voice: "Jiming, can your hidden weapon reach the King of Lingnan?"
Yuchi Jiming estimated the distance and replied: "The distance is too far, and we are shooting from bottom to top. Even if we can hit him, we still can't kill him." She paused, "The crossbow should be able to do it, but I'm afraid of shooting Not allowed."
Qiu Yizhi nodded, then moved to Meng Hong's side and ordered: "Meng Hong, you should aim at the Lingnan Prince now. If you shoot him to death with one arrow, you will be a hero of the Han Dynasty. I will give you a four-year title." A high-ranking official of the fifth rank, remember to be careful. If you can't hit the King of Lingnan with one arrow, you will have no chance!"
After hearing this, Meng Hong's eyes lit up, he quietly opened the crossbow machine, selected a brand new crossbow bolt, ducked behind a giant shield, slowly raised the crossbow in his hand, carefully aimed it, and took a deep breath. He held it hard again, gently pulled the trigger, and as the crossbow string vibrated, the carefully selected crossbow arrow was fired towards the Lingnan King's face gate.
Seeing that the Lingnan King Zhenggui, who had been a powerful figure all his life, was about to lose his life to this humble crossbow arrow.
But he saw a dark shadow flash in front of him, and the extremely sharp crossbow arrow disappeared out of thin air. Not only Qiu Yizhi and others standing at the foot of the mountain, but even the King of Lingnan himself was so frightened that he took half a step back and asked in surprise: "what happened?"
But he saw the black figure straightening the palm of his right hand, spreading it flat in front of King Lingnan, and said: "My lord, please look, this thing almost killed you!"
Zheng Gui was frightened when he saw the cold light shining on the tip of the arrow. He immediately snatched the crossbow arrow from the man's hand, broke it in two, threw it down from the top of the mountain, and said, "Good boy, whoever dares to hurt someone with an arrow in the dark should be punished quickly." I stand up!"
Qiu Yizhi stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, it's my fault for hurting someone in the dark. But your collusion with the leader of a cult, is it considered the work of a descendant of the Han Dynasty?" After saying that, Qiu Yizhi stretched out his hand and saved the life of the King of Lingnan. The black shadow said, "It's time for this senior of the Yuchi family to show up!"
The black shadow shook for a moment, then took half a step forward, took off the black hat on his head, and said with a smile: "As expected of Your Highness, last year I was almost forced to feed the fish under the Yangtze River by you, but I didn't expect that... I’m still thinking about the old lady!”
This old woman in black is a senior of the Yuchi family. Her martial arts skills are even better than those of Yuchi Jiming. She speaks in a soft voice, but her words are clear. Even after being separated by dozens of steps, she can still pronounce every word. The sound reached Qiu Yizhi's ears.
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi cupped her hands and said, "Senior is a famous expert in the Yuchi family, so why would he commit himself to Wen Honghui, the leader of the cult? Most of his contemporaries in the Yuchi family are dead, and only the old aunt is left. What kind of grievances can't be let go? Why don't we just abandon the dark side and return to our hometown to live out our old age, rather than wandering around like this? "
The expression of the old woman in black seemed to change, and she replied: "I appreciate His Highness Yi's kindness. It's a pity that I have wind in my blood, and I'm used to it. What's more, the old woman killed too many people in the past, and she has long since ceased to regard herself as a member of the Yuchi family. Now that I am a human being, there is no talk of returning to my hometown..."
Although Qiu Yizhi heard her words resolutely, there was a hint of desolation and sorrow in her tone. She suddenly felt that she might not be able to persuade her to change her mind. She thought about her words and was about to speak, but she saw A person flashed out from behind the old woman in black, pointed down the mountain, and cursed: "Qiu Yizhi, don't talk cleverly here. If you have such skill, why not go back and take care of the funeral, and then come here to die!"
Qiu Yizhi looked intently and saw that the person speaking was indeed the Tianzun leader Wen Honghui.
So he also scolded: "Wen Honghui, you have done many evil things and are seeking your own death. Why do you always instigate others to rebel and cause rebellion? You claim to be a heavenly leader, but you don't believe in the teachings yourself. Instead, you want to deceive others. You are truly a disaster." Bad stuff!”
Qiu Yi changed the topic and actually said to Zheng Gui: "Prince Lingnan, whether you raise an army or rebel, whether you are upright or conspiracy, if we cannot defeat you, it is because of our fate. It is natural that you are not talented enough, and you will die without regrets. But if you collude with this evil cult to commit rebellion, how can you convince hundreds of millions of people, the world's scholars, and the court officials even if you succeed?"
Wen Honghui immediately said: "You know nothing! How can there be so much acceptance and dissatisfaction among the successful, the princes, and the defeated, the thieves? It has been nearly three hundred years since the reign of Zuo of the Han Dynasty. Who knew that Emperor Taizu had also attached himself to our holy religion back then... "
"Presumptuous!" King Zhenggui of Lingnan heard Wen Honghui mention Emperor Taizu, and immediately scolded him, "How can you talk nonsense about Taizu's sacred taboo? I only want to keep you by my side as a counselor. Without you, I won't be able to fight against the emperor." What? If you talk nonsense from now on, I might cut off your tongue."
Wen Honghui trembled all over after hearing this, swallowed half of what he said, quickly took half a step back, and pushed behind the old aunt of Yuchi's family.
Zheng Gui let out a sigh of relief, and then said to Qiu Yizhi and others at the foot of the mountain: "The two nephews at the foot of the mountain have heard this. From now on, you and I will be our opponents. On the battlefield, swords and guns have no eyes, but thinking You are all outstanding people in the younger generation of my Zheng family. If you fall into my hands one day, I may spare your life. Okay, you go!"
Lingnan King Zheng Gui was obviously his opponent, but after saying these few words, Qiu Yizhi felt a bit of admiration from the bottom of his heart. A person as sharp-tongued and eloquent as him was actually speechless for a moment. He couldn't think of it. Come up with some words of reply.
But I heard Zheng Miao say loudly: "Uncle, my nephew would like to advise you again. Now that the magic of heaven has been determined, ordinary people can change it, so don't do this useless thing again. If you rein in the situation, I will present you with a memorandum of apology and my father's words." Being kind and virtuous will definitely give your uncle a prosperous old age."
But Zheng Gui laughed loudly: "Hahaha! I don't need gifts from others for my wealth. Go back and tell Zheng Rong that he can be the emperor, and so can I!"
Having said this, Qiu Yizhi felt that he had said all he needed to say, so he gently tugged on Zheng Miao's sleeve: "Third brother, it is useless to talk more. The imperial court will soon go to war with the Lingnan Palace. We will wait. The most important thing is to go back quickly and report all the information about Lingnan Road to the emperor."
Zheng Miao sighed and said: "This time the errand was done badly. I actually forced the King of Lingnan to rebel. I don't know how I should explain it to my father when I go back."
Qiu Yizhi heard Zheng Miao's tone, which was a bit discouraged, and quickly comforted him: "The King of Lingnan has always rebelled, but sooner or later. This pustule will be squeezed one day. Although the court is more difficult now, but in view of the overall situation It’s enough to overwhelm Lingnan, so as long as there are no big mistakes, it’s pretty safe.”
Zheng Miao sighed again: "Let's follow Brother Xian's plan and leave Lingnan Road as soon as possible. The extra day we have to prepare will give us a better chance of winning."
So Qiu Yizhi called Zhao Chengxiao and asked him to lead his sergeants and go north toward Jiangnan Road along the original road they came from.
When they went deep into Lingnan Road a few days ago, Zheng Miao and Qiu Yizhi intended to explore the reality of Lingnan Road, so they walked very slowly. It took them nearly half a month to reach the stronghold basin that the King of Lingnan had painstakingly built. (To be continued)