Not long after, the two main doors of the Tongguan general's office opened with a bang, and a man walked out under the protection of two teams of soldiers on the left and right. The man was dressed neatly and walked quickly to Qiu Yizi. Suddenly, he bowed and said, "It turns out that it is His Highness Yi who has come. Please forgive Wang Shijie for not coming to greet you in person." He held the business card in both hands and was about to return it to Qiu Yizi.
Qiu Yizi had no time to argue with him about etiquette, so she hurriedly helped Wang Shijie up, took the name card, and said, "I have something important to do. I'll talk to you after I get to the government office."
Wang Shijie was not a guard of the Youyan Palace, but was responsible for guarding the fortress station deep in the grassland north of Guangyang City all year round. Now he was sent here to serve as the guard of Tongguan, which was considered to be the best use of his talents. Therefore, when Qiu Yizhi followed Emperor Zheng Rong, who was still the King of Youyan, to the north to burn grass, Wang Shijie met the famous "His Highness Yi" several times and knew that he was of unusual status and might have important matters.
So Wang Shijie immediately led Qiu Yizi and others into the yamen, ordered people to close the door, and invited Qiu Yizi to the hall to talk.
Qiu Yizi didn't even want to waste time walking to the main hall of the government office. He asked Wang Shijie to dismiss the soldiers beside him at the door and said to him, "I have urgent business to do. I must go through the customs to Luoyang to do my work. I have more than 200 trusted guards with me. I have to leave immediately. You open the gate for me now. I want to pass through."
Wang Shijie had heard this from the inspector a long time ago, but he still couldn't agree, and said: "Your Highness Yi, it's not that I don't want to help. The imperial edict that just arrived the day before said that someone was planning to cause chaos, and Tongguan must be closed immediately, and not even a rabbit can be let in, otherwise they will be subject to military law. I am a coward and have little luck, Your Highness Yi, please don't make it difficult for me."
Qiu Yizi frowned and said, "My affairs concern the affairs of the world. If you hesitate any longer, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear the consequences. Even if the law of the country can forgive you, I can't let you go as the justice of heaven."
The tone of these words was so heavy that Wang Shijie looked embarrassed. "Your Highness, this matter really cannot be compromised... If I disobey the order, I will die. If I obey the order, I will also die. It is better for me to commit suicide now!"
Qiu Yizi had done a lot of unorthodox things, and in fact he did not understand the weight of an imperial edict in the hearts of ordinary military generals and officials, let alone why Wang Shijie was so rigid and pedantic.
Just as he was about to force him again, Lin Shuhan behind him grabbed Qiu Yizi's shoulders and whispered something in his ear.
After hearing what Lin Shuhan said, Qiu Yizhi seemed to have suddenly realized something. A smile immediately appeared on her face, and she said to Wang Shijie, "Well, since you are in trouble, I will not embarrass you anymore."
Wang Shijie was almost in tears, but when he heard Qiu Yizi's attitude had changed 180 degrees, he immediately smiled and said gratefully: "Your Highness Yi can understand my feelings. In the future, you will surely be a nobleman for generations, and enjoy wealth and honor forever..."
Qiu Yizi interrupted him and said, "I won't go through the wall for now, but I have important things to do and I can't rest assured. Why don't you take me to the top of the wall to take a look?"
After hearing such a request, Wang Shijie hesitated again - His Highness Qiu Yizi was too famous. All the soldiers and generals of Youyan Road knew that he was daring, acted strangely, and was always successful - he wanted to go to the wall to inspect, so could he be up to some trick
Wang Shijie was still hesitating, but Qiu Yizi was already impatient: "What? Is your Tongguan made of gold? Not only do you not let me pass through, but you can't even take a look at the wall? Are you afraid that I'll tear off a few pieces of your wall and then I can't turn around?"
Wang Shijie immediately apologized, "No, no, that's not the case. I just heard that you brought more than 200 people with you... Well, I didn't manage the army well, and the wall is very messy. I'm afraid it can't accommodate these 200 people."
"Don't worry, my personal guards are all stationed outside the pass and will not climb your pass wall." Qiu Yizi explained, "Are you satisfied now?"
Wang Shijie was of course satisfied. After receiving the imperial edict, he specially strengthened the defense of Tongguan Pass. On the basis of the original 500 guards, he doubled the number of soldiers. Therefore, in addition to the soldiers guarding the pass, he could mobilize more than 300 soldiers on the wall. If this "His Highness Yi" really wanted to force his way through the pass, these 300 guards might not have a chance of winning against the more than 200 people brought by Qiu Yizi, but they were enough to deal with these four people.
So Wang Shijie said: "Well, I will be the master today and let His Highness Yi take a good look at the military appearance of my Tongguan soldiers!"
Qiu Yizhi had been to the Tongguan Pass wall once during the "suppression of rebellion". At that time, veteran General Bai Wenbo led his army to fight against the Youyan army. The wall was full of smoke and fire, and it was far from being as neat and orderly as it is today. Although peacetime is not the same as wartime, it can be seen that Wang Shijie was obviously humble. Not only did he not "discipline the army laxly", but he had quite a strategy.
Therefore, Qiu Yi praised: "General Wang was too modest just now. I have also seen the use of troops by famous generals such as Dai Luanxiang, Cui Nan, and Wei Hu. Although General Wang's leadership today is not as good as those famous generals, it is still quite impressive."
Wang Shijie didn't know that Emperor Zheng Rong had passed away yet. He was thinking only of promotion. He knew that His Highness Yi, who had a say in front of the emperor, had such an evaluation of him. If he could say a few good words for him in front of the emperor, he would be able to get promoted.
Wang Shijie smiled and said, "Your Highness Yi, you are really flattering me. Those are all world-famous veterans. I am just a small general guarding the pass. How dare I compare myself with them?"
Qiu Yizi did not answer. He looked down and saw that the east gate of Xiongguan was crowded with people, so he asked, "What are these people doing?"
Wang Shijie quickly replied, "They are all merchants waiting to pass through the pass. The imperial edict came too hastily, and only ordered the immediate closure of Tongguan, but did not say when it would be reopened. I did not know how to explain it to them, so I could only let them wait. When they got tired of waiting, they naturally dispersed."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi thought: This Wang Shijie is indeed a warrior, and his thinking is too direct and too simple...
He turned around and walked a few steps to the west, pointed to the bottom of the wall and said, "Are there people waiting to pass through here as well?"
Wang Shijie looked down and replied, "That's right. The imperial edict only said to close the checkpoint, but did not specify which side to close. I was timid, so I simply closed both sides to avoid being blamed by the higher-ups for being insecure and unreliable."
Qiu Yizi suddenly smiled and said, "You are indeed very safe and reliable in doing things. What a pity, what a pity..."
Wang Shijie was somewhat confused after hearing this, and asked hurriedly, "Your Highness Yi, what's the pity?"
Qiu Yizi turned around, reached back and pulled Yuchi Lianghong over, and asked, "Do you know who this person is?"
Wang Shijie has been leading troops and training outside for many years, and has never worked in the central government. Of course, he does not know the identity of Yuchi Lianghong: "I am blind and do not know where this person comes from."
Qiu Yizhi laughed again and said, "This person's name is Yuchi Lianghong. Have you heard of his name?"
Wang Shijie's eyes lit up: "Oh, I've heard of you. So you are the Great Warrior Yuchi! I've heard of you for a long time. The Great Warrior Yuchi is the best martial artist in the world, and you work for the Emperor. I'm sorry for neglecting you."
Just as Yuchi Lianghong was about to say something modest, Qiu Yizi spoke before him, "Then General Wang, do you know which martial arts this Yuchi hero is most proud of?"
Wang Shijie didn't know why Qiu Yizhi brought up this topic, so he scratched his head and answered truthfully: "Master Yuchi must be proficient in all eighteen martial arts. As for which martial arts he is most proud of, I really don't know..."
"You are quite honest then. The martial arts that this Yuchi hero is most proud of is Qinggong." Qiu Yizi turned his head and said to Yuchi Lianghong, "General Wang seems to be a little unconvinced. Brother, why don't you show it to everyone and open their eyes?"
Yuchi Lianghong agreed: "Okay, then I will try my skills, please watch me!"
After saying that, Yuchi Lianghong stepped forward, lightly jumped and stood on the battlement beside the wall, let out a long whistle, and leaped out of the wall.
Everyone was startled and hurriedly leaned over the wall to look down, only to see Yuchi Lianghong wearing a lake blue robe. It seemed as if all the weight had been taken away and he had turned into a feather, letting the north wind blow him sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right, and finally he landed on the ground on the west side of Tongguan, raising a cloud of dust on the yellow earth.
It turned out that this was a countermeasure secretly discussed by Qiu Yizi and Lin Shuhan - since they couldn't pass through the Tongguan gate openly, and the troops they brought were not enough to break through this mighty pass, they could only look for an opportunity to sneak over the pass and leave.
The wall of Tongguan was about 20 to 30 feet high. If an ordinary person fell from it, he would be smashed into pieces. Although Qiu Yizhi knew that Yuchi Lianghong was a skilled martial artist, he was afraid that he would fail on such a high wall. However, the situation was urgent and he had to send someone to report to Zheng Miao in the capital as soon as possible, so he could not care less.
Having said that, Qiu Yizhi was still very worried. Seeing Yuchi Lianghong flying away, he quickly looked far away and saw Yuchi Lianghong squatting on the ground for a long time before he stood up and walked two steps to the west. But his steps seemed to be a little faltering and staggering, probably because he was injured.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizi became even more worried and asked loudly, "Brother, are you okay?"
It was not known whether Yuchi Lianghong heard Qiu Yizi's concerned inquiry or not. He just waved to the people on the city wall and quickened his pace to the west.
Qiu Yizi was relieved after seeing this, knowing that with Yuchi Lianghong's footwork and body movements, even if he was injured, it would not be serious and would not cause any major problems. Therefore, he felt relieved and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Wang Shijie was shocked by Yuchi Lianghong's unique martial arts skills. Before he could react, he just praised him: "As expected of you, Master Yuchi! I have really opened my eyes today. Oh, by the way, Master Yuchi, do you know the way up from Guanxi? Do you want me to send someone to pick him up?"
Qiu Yizi found Wang Shijie's stupid look a little funny, so he joked: "This Yuchi hero's martial arts skills were very strong when he flew down, but his martial arts skills when he came up are very poor. I'm afraid it will take at least three to five days to get back to the top of the wall!"
Wang Shijie's face was full of doubts - when he saw Yuchi Lianghong climbing the stairs just now, his steps were very vigorous and did not seem slow at all; even if he was slower than an ordinary person, it shouldn't take him three to five days to climb to the wall, right
Wang Shijie suddenly woke up, blinking his eyes and asked: "Your Highness Yi... Yi, so, could it be that the hero Yuchi has already passed through the barrier?"
Qiu Yizi then smiled and said, "You are not slow to react. Yuchi Lianghong has indeed left. He followed my orders and went to the capital Luoyang to do business."