The masked man sneered, and instantly launched a sneak attack from behind the tree. Qingfeng transformed into countless sword shadows, covering Wu Du's body.
This move sealed all directions, and Wu Du had to retreat to the stable, drawing a sword in one hand, and a mocking smile on the corner of his mouth.
The masked man stabbed Wu Du's throat with a sword.
Wu Du's face did not change, the corner of his mouth was still smiling, he abandoned his guard and stabbed the unconscious Cai Yan with a backhand sword.
Unexpectedly, the masked man ignored Cai Yan, but he did not change his tactics. The castration was very fast. At that moment, even if Wu Du killed Cai Yan, he would be stabbed in the throat by the masked man. Had to change tricks. However, the opportunity was lost, and Wu Du made a mistake in his judgment. When he turned his head, the masked man had changed his stab to a slash, and the sword immediately picked out a bloodstain on Wu Du's face!
Wu Du pulled away and then retreated, the masked man chasing after him. Wu Du realized that the young man in his hand could no longer be used as a hostage, so he had to return his sword, twist the two swords together, and then flew up to the roof of the stable and nailed it to the wooden post. The masked man abandoned his sword, put both palms out, and pressed them on Wu Du's abdomen.
That palm was silent, but it condensed the strength of the masked man's whole body. Wherever the softness went, Wu Du's internal organs were instantly shocked. Wu Du spat out a mouthful of blood and fell straight back.
The momentary error in judgment almost cost Wu Du his life. However, just as he collapsed the roof of the stable and flew out, he flipped his left wrist and sprinkled a handful of poisonous powder. The masked man immediately held his breath, grabbed the sword, and jumped up. Wu Du came through the poisonous mist, pulled out his sword, staggered, and chased after the masked man.
The masked man jumped up the courtyard wall and flew over in a cloak. Wu Du then caught up. The two stepped on the roof of the famous hall and passed over the guard's head. As soon as they fought, the two palms hurt their internal organs. At the same time, the two slipped under their feet and stepped on several bricks and tiles.
When the guards heard the sound, they walked out one after another, looking above their heads.
Taking advantage of this moment, Duan Ling and Helian ran out quickly, picked up Cai Yan together, and led him into the corridor.
When the guard raised his head, Wu Du and the masked man had disappeared. The two of them performed light work at the same time, their footsteps were silent, and they flew over the eaves and walls to the roof of the hall.
The sword wound on Wu Du's face was still dripping blood, and he chased the masked man to the largest roof.
Wu Du and the masked man stared at each other, and neither dared to care, knowing that this battle is either your death or my life.
The masked man's voice became very hoarse: "How on earth did you find out?"
Wu Du sneered and said, "I saved your life only to catch that big fish from you. After seeing you parted ways, I hurried back to Beijing. Besides protecting his descendants, who else would there be? , I must be this age."
The masked man said in a hoarse voice: "One hundred secrets and one sparse, Brother Wu is superior."
Wu Du: "You can keep him for a while, but you can't keep him forever."
The masked man replied in a rustling voice, "If you can hold on for a while, you will lose today."
Wu Du sneered, "It's far from certain."
The masked man didn't say more, he suddenly stepped down, where his inner strength went, the tiles suddenly collapsed, Wu Du's expression changed, he was too late to jump, and fell down the hall with him!
At this moment, Yelu Dashi was still sending his reward in the hall. In an instant, the roof collapsed. It really responded to the famous saying of the Han Chinese who did not sit down in the hall. Two assassins fell together, and the hall was in chaos. , In an instant, the king roared, the guards shouted, the master screamed, the children urinated, and all living beings were in different expressions. It was so lively!
"who!"
"There are assassins!"
"Protect the King!"
Yelu Dashi is also a master of martial arts.
Wu Du and the masked man jumped up, but they didn't say a word. At the same time, they flew to open the window and the door. The masked man went east and Wu Du went west. The two left.
The strong wind of the arrows flew past the ice edges, and a drop of water fell down.
The masked man flew up to the rockery in the front yard. The Liao people's arrows pierced through Yang at a hundred paces, and marched alone in Shenzhou. They took all the vital points in his body. Seeing that the sharp arrows were chasing him, the masked man narrowed his eyes, and all the arrows turned into dots. .
Then he spread his arms, stepped on the rockery, and did a backflip, like an eagle spreading its wings, avoiding all the arrows in an instant and falling behind the courtyard wall.
Wu Duze flew up to the wall, chasing sharp arrows behind him, only to see that he stepped on the wall, turned his whole body with the momentum, and used the force of his rotating robe to hang the arrows. Scattered in all directions!
The guards chased out of the front yard one after another, and Wu Duyi disappeared.
The sound of horses' hooves outside the alley, Cai Wen led the army to arrive, Batu saw Wu Du landed, and hurriedly shouted: "It's him!"
The cavalry rushed to kill. Wu Du was already wounded and did not dare to fight. He fled to the depths of the alley. As soon as he turned out of the back alley, another cavalry came after him. Seeing that the guards were chasing along the main road by the river, they had formed a siege. With the momentum, Wu Du leaped into the air, drew out his long sword, drew an arc, and rammed towards the frozen river.
"Crash", the glacier shattered, Wu Du dived into the water and disappeared.
Duan Ling and Helianbo were shaking Cai Yan in the secluded courtyard.
"Cai Yan!" Duan Ling called to him anxiously.
"Water." Helianbo handed Duan Lingshui water and asked him to feed it to Cai Yan.
The masked man fell to the ground suddenly, Helianbo hurriedly pulled Duan Ling to retreat, and Duan Ling waved his hand to indicate that it was okay. I saw the masked man bow his body and test Cai Yan's breath with one hand, and then probe his neck. When Duan Ling was about to speak, the masked man raised his other hand and pressed it on his lips.
Cai Wen's voice sounded outside the secluded courtyard. The masked man finally pointed at Cai Yan, and then shook his index finger at Duan Ling. Duan Ling understood that it meant that his life was not in danger. Smell arrived.
In the afternoon, Yelu Dashi was furious and blocked Mingtang. All the children were questioned. The entire Mingtang was exhausted, and some people kept crying.
Batu went to ask for help, but he did not see the masked man who fought against Wu Du. Duan Ling had already explained the details three times. He did not dare to mention Lang Junxia, and deliberately omitted some details. I just said that when I went to Batu, I accidentally discovered that Cai Yan was arrested, and then another mysterious assassin appeared.
When Cai Yan woke up, he asked three questions. Yelu Dashi listened in person, and when he wanted to check with Helianbo, he stammered again, and his words were incomprehensible. Yelu Dashi would rather listen to Duan Ling ten times than hear Helianbo repeat it once. In the end, he took Duan Ling and Cai Yan's words as the standard and recorded the confession. No matter how much Cai Wen checked, he couldn't find anything, and everyone had no choice but to give up.
Duan Ling was exhausted physically and mentally after being questioned. He didn't eat a few bites of dinner. When he went back to sleep in the secluded courtyard, he was still immersed in the affairs of the day, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. During this time, the flute outside the hospital still rang, melodious and melodious, so Duan Ling gradually calmed down in the flute and fell asleep.
The next day everything was business as usual, only Cai Yan looked rather tired. Duan Ling cared about it in the past, Cai Yan just nodded, and the two talked for a long time, but Cai Yan couldn't guess who his family had offended. The fainted handyman, the assassin must have sneaked in as a handyman.
And why did he choose to enter the school to assassinate at this time, the target was Cai Yan again, and who the other masked man was, even Cai Wen couldn't understand. Fortunately, the guards of the patrol department found a pierced ice cave in the moat outside the city. Based on this, it was inferred that the assassin had escaped.
That night, Qionghuayuan:
Lang Junxia adjusted the medicinal powder, faced the mirror, and applied it to the wounds on his waist and back. On one side is a vertical screen. Behind the screen, there are six girls in costumes, including Ding Zhi.
Some of the six women lit hand stoves, some served tea cups, and there was a noble lady in the hall surrounded by flowers, who was the owner of Qionghuayuan, whom Ding Zhi previously called "Mrs.".
"It's really the luck of you and that child." Madam said lightly, "Why don't you find a house in the past few days, and I'll ask you to move in again."
The shadow of Lang Junxia was cast on the screen, showing a fit silhouette of a man with a bare upper body.
"Instead of hiding in the east, it's better to wait and see."
"That child's life is blessed by God, and this time it is Wu Du." The lady said, "First of all, there was a misunderstanding, and 'Zhu' was also a master in the shadow team. He died at the hands of a child. There is a certain number. The next time you come, it may not necessarily be Wu Du."
"What if it's Lord Changliu?" Lang Junxia put down the medicine plate and replied casually.
"Don't underestimate the enemy." Madam said calmly and calmly, "Although Wu Du is good at using poison, he is a different kind of you. Anyone who can be poisoned will be poisoned, and anyone who can save his life will save his life. If he kills a person once, There are more lives left than enemies, and they often give up their lives, and people with a good heart can be incompetent assassins."
After changing the medicine, Lang Junxia put on his robe, fastened his belt and walked out from behind the screen.
The lady is dressed in dark red brocade, and her robe is embroidered with lifelike cranes spreading its wings. Her eyebrows are like a touch of green hills, and her eyes are like two green mountain springs. Although she is the crown of all the flowers in Qionghuayuan, she is not over 30 years old, and her appearance is even more beautiful. With a little imprint of the Westerners.
"I don't think Changliujun will come." Lang Junxia said.
The lady said lightly: "Your courage has always been very big."
Lang Junxia said: "Nan Chen Dijun can't last much longer, the northern expedition is a foregone conclusion, within three years, the Nanchen army will not be able to pass the Yubi Pass again, Zhao Kui and Mu Kuangda will be busy next, and only There is infighting."
"Once the infighting begins, neither Wu Du nor Changliu will dare to leave their respective masters." Lang Junxia finally said: "Shangjing is the territory of the Liao people, and they send famous assassins just to find someone whose identity is true. A child who is not expected to do such boring things."
Lang Junxia nodded to his wife, turned and left Qionghuayuan.
The lady was silent.
Night, Nan Chen.
"Leave him a life." Zhao Kui said.
"What?" Wu Du thought he had heard it wrong.
When Wu Du returned from Shangjing, he was in a state of embarrassment. He neither found Li Jianhong's whereabouts nor killed the legendary "unknown guest", but brought back some useful news.
Zhao Kui was sitting in the hall, with a dim light on his back, casting a dark figure, the light shining on Wu Du's face, the assassin's expression was extremely complicated.
"Who else knows?" Zhao Kui asked.
Wu Du shook his head and replied, "Zhu has died. The assassins of the shadow team who went with him have not even entered the capital. They are all responding outside the city. This information is conjectured by his subordinates. But I don't understand..."
"Your Majesty's time is short." Zhao Kui said slowly: "The Fourth Prince has no children yet, and Li Jianhong's whereabouts are unknown. In the future, this court will be dominated by Mu Kuangda. He's in a bind. You don't think this happened."
Wu Du understood and nodded.
"General, I ignored the traces of the third prince in Huchang City, and rushed to Shangjing instead. Maybe Mu Xiang... has already guessed it."
Zhao Kui sneered and said, "Even if Mu Kuangda knew about it, he would not dare to send Lord Changliu to the capital without authorization. Once he loses the protection of Lord Changliu, he will not be able to sleep peacefully. Besides, after your trip this time, Presumably the city must be heavily defended, and he will never have this opportunity from now on."
The Shangjing city has been under martial law for ten consecutive days, and there are often guards patrolling in the famous hall, staring at the children, and the gentlemen are not even afraid to come out. After this incident, Cai Yan and Duan Ling became close to each other invisibly, and occasionally asked Duan Ling to ask him about his homework.
The day when the patrols were withdrawn was the last day of the first month. Today, more family members came to pick up the door than usual. They all learned about the previous assassination. There are even samurai guards in front of the nobleman's car.
"The Duan family—Master Duan." The porter sang, "Aren't you there?"
Lang Junxia was the first to arrive today and was waiting at the door before he arrived.
"I'm here! I'm here!" Duan Ling hurriedly came out, paid his pocket cards, threw himself into Lang Junxia's arms, and was put in his arms by him.
"Go home." Lang Junxia took Duan Ling's hand, but Duan Ling couldn't help but look back, looking inward from the grid at the main entrance of Mingtang. I saw Batu standing in the front yard, looking at Duan Ling from a distance.
Guessing what Duan Ling was thinking, Lang Junxia stopped and said, "You made friends with Boer Chijin?"
Duan Ling nodded.
Lang Junxia asked again, "Invite him to come to our house for dinner?"
Duan Ling asked, "Is it okay?"
Lang Junxia: "Your friend, of course you can."
"Batu!" Duan Ling called to Batu, "Let's go together! Come to my house at night."
Badu waved his hand, and Duan Ling waited for a while, until the people in the alley were almost gone, and Badu hadn't come out yet, expecting no one to pick him up again, Duan Ling shouted again, "Let's go!"
Without answering, he turned around and entered the inner courtyard with the iron rod he was ringing on. The setting sun shone in from outside the alley, and Duan Ling felt a little melancholy.
However, after returning home, Duan Ling's melancholy disappeared without a trace, because Lang Junxia cooked a lot of good dishes and lined up on the table. Duan Ling cheered and sat down, and started eating without washing his hands, but was pressed by Lang Junxia and wiped his dirty puppy's paws with a wet towel.
"I'm not very good at cooking." Lang Junxia said, "Without Zheng Yan's skill, you will eat better in the future, and naturally you won't be able to recite this table. For now, let's make do with it."
Who is Zheng Yan? Duan Ling thought to himself, but that doesn't matter. His mouth was full of food, and he no longer had the heart to speak. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door outside, and Lang Junxia frowned.
"Duanling!" Batu's voice shouted from outside.
Duan Ling hurriedly swallowed his food and ran out to open the door. The woolen jacket on Batu's body had not been washed for many days. It was dirty and hung with a lot of dirt and leaves. Standing outside the door, he said, "Cai Gou's Brother is right, you really live here, here it is." He handed him a packet of snacks.
Duan Ling said, "How did you sneak out?"
Batu said, "Of course I have a way."
Duan Ling said, "Come in and eat."
Duan Ling wanted to pull Ba Du to come in, but Ba Du was reluctant. The two were chatting at the door for a while, until Lang Junxia appeared behind Duan Ling and said, "Come in and have a cup of tea." Duanfu.
Lang Junxia put chopsticks on him, but Batu said, "I've eaten it, so I came to talk to him."
"You two are free." Lang Junxia backed out. Duan Ling was a little disappointed, but when he saw Lang Junxia moved a stool and sat outside the door, Duan Ling wanted to call him, but Batu said, "Just eat."
Batu only drank the cup of tea at hand, looked at the table full of food, and felt a little envious. Duan Ling persuaded him again and again, but Batu just insisted that he had eaten it in the famous hall, and Duan Ling had to force him. The two and a half-year-old children chatted for a while, talking and laughing. Duan Ling's studies have progressed rapidly, and he has entered the ink room, and he can enter the middle class at the beginning of the month.
After Lang Junxia had eaten, Duan Ling packed up and came out, found his clothes to put on Batu, and went to the bathroom with him to take a bath. Batu was not happy at first, but he smelled too much. When he went to Cai's house to ask for directions, he was really scorned, so he was half pushed and dragged away by Duan Ling.
The two soaked in the bathhouse. Batu's woolen robe was handed over to the servants in the bathhouse to wash and dry. After playing with Duan Ling for a while, Lang Junxia called someone to shave Batu's face and cut his nails, and he himself gave it to him. Duan Ling packed up.
"Your eyes are like lake water." Duan Ling looked in the mirror, then at Batu in the mirror, and said, "It's so beautiful, if only I had blue eyes too."
Batu replied, "You envy my blue eyes, and I envy your black eyes."
Lang Junxia said casually: "It's better to have blue eyes and blue eyes, and it's better to have black eyes with black eyes. Everyone has their own destiny, so I can't be envious."
Duan Ling nodded. At that time, he still didn't understand what Lang Junxia meant. It wasn't until a long time later that he didn't know why. This sentence that night often appeared in his and Batu's memory.
In the middle of the night, Batu, wearing a half-wet wool jacket, said to Duan Ling, "I'm leaving."
"Sleep at my house." Duan Ling said.
Batu waved his hand, not allowing Duan Ling to say any more, and ran away quickly, Duan Ling watched Batu leave without saying a word for a long time.
Batu crossed the alley, came to the outside of the famous hall, got in through the fence of the garden, pushed back the flower pot with evergreen plants, blocked the opening in the fence, and went back to the bookstore to sleep.
"You can make friends with Bo'erchijin's family." Lang Junxia urged, "but you can't learn everything about his behavior."
Duan Ling nodded.
Teenagers love to play by nature, and it is not that no one in Mingtang wants to make friends with Duan Ling, but Duan Ling has always sat alone, carefully followed Lang Junxia's teaching, and has been wary since childhood, for fear of losing all this, and more. Fearing that his father, who was still far away, would be implicated, he stayed alone in the secluded courtyard without making any friends.
In Duan Ling's world, mostly only Lang Junxia and his father who had never met.
At first, the teenagers thought he was timid and didn't dare to integrate into them. Over time, they realized that Duan Ling really didn't want to deal with people, so he gradually accepted it. The atmosphere of Shangjing is free and easy, and the customs of Liao people never force others to do things they don’t want to do, so everyone respects each other. Occasionally, he would nod his head at him, while Duan Ling was polite, following the instructions of the master, stopping, tidying up his clothes, and returning the salute.
This was the real "nodding acquaintance". The classmates started laughing and laughing. They only looked at new things, but later they felt that Duan Ling was clean and beautiful, and he looked very good when he saluted, so the etiquette of a gentleman became popular in the famous hall for a while. Only Cai Yan looked at him differently. Although this special look was never spoken, it was tacit to each other. Cai Wen had met Duan Ling several times later, and also liked Duan Ling's quietness and seriousness.
After Duan Ling ascended into the ink room, the same tablemate was the big man Jie Bahlianbo. This new tablemate was taciturn and was very silent most of the time, which fit Duan Ling's quiet temperament.
Time is fleeting, and before you know it, the sun grows longer, the snow melts, and winter goes to spring. Rather than staying in the school, Duan Ling wanted to go home quickly. Since that day, Lang Junxia has never been late again. When Duan Ling was studying in Mingtang, he always felt that someone was staring at him from behind.
The weather was getting warmer, and Ling was absent-minded during the lunch time, lying on the table dozing off, suddenly hit a plum on his head.
"Ouch!" Duan Ling raised his head and saw a figure flashing across the wall and disappeared without a trace, so he had to learn to write seriously. He only spent three months in the opening course, and he learned faster than all the children. Soon after, he was assigned to another class. Read more books, learn more complex, astronomical numbers, succession and transformation... all of them are exhausted.
In the warm spring night, there is a sultry atmosphere, and Duan Ling has a strange feeling in his heart. He always thinks of the back of Lang Junxia in the Qionghuayuan on the night he first arrived in Beijing.
A melodious flute sounded suddenly outside the secluded courtyard, and in the spring night when the flowers were in full bloom, it seemed as if they were talking to Duan Ling. Duan Ling vaguely felt that it was Lang Junxia playing the flute, but he couldn't see him. Duan Ling wore a single coat, ran under the moon, and stood barefoot until the flute gradually became inaudible, and then went back to the room to sleep, tossing and turning, unable to sleep well.
In the blink of an eye, half a year passed, Lang Junxia, as he promised, never traveled far, and kept the Duan Mansion in good order. Whenever Duan Ling was on holiday, he would take him out for a walk, riding a horse on the vast grassland. Watching herds of cattle and sheep, sitting under the Altun Mountain, drinking the cold snow, fishing for fish in the river, and occasionally bringing Batu with them.
Duan Ling often felt that he was very happy, but Batu seemed unwilling to share his happiness. Gradually, he always made excuses not to come with Duan Ling. Lang Junxia said that everyone has their own ideas, and sometimes, there is no need to force it.
"Is my father here?" Duan Ling would ask Lang Junxia every time he went home.
"Coming soon." Lang Junxia explained to Duan Ling, "He will never leave you alone."
Duan Ling asked this, as if just to get a usual answer, Lang Junxia promised him again: "You must study hard so that you won't disappoint your father."
Duan's mansion was kept in an orderly manner. Duan Ling planted a lot of herbs in the flowerbed. Some of them survived and some didn't. Lang Junxia was a little strange and asked, "Why do you plant so many herbs?"
"Fun." Duan Ling wiped his sweat and replied.
Lang Junxia said, "Do you want to study medicine?"
Duan Ling thought about it and thought, maybe it was because his childhood experiences were full of illnesses and pains, which made him always worried. Life was poor, and everyone would face sudden death, so he was more interested in treating illnesses and saving people. I often borrow some medical books on the identification of herbal medicines.
"Don't study medicine." Lang Junxia said, "your father has high hopes for you, and you will have a great career in the future."
Duan Ling said stubbornly, "I just think about it."
Lang Junxia said: "Since you like to grow some flowers and plants, you might as well grow this."
Lang Junxia bought a peach sapling for Duan Ling from the market. It was shipped from the south. The peach blossoms in the south of the Yangtze River are difficult to survive when they are moved to Shangjing. After planting the peach tree with Duan Ling, Lang Junxia added:
"When the peach blossoms bloom, your father should be here."
"Really?" Duan Ling said.
So he took care of the peach tree more carefully, but it was not acclimatized to the soil and water, and it always looked sick. When spring came, it had two or three buds, which withered before they bloomed.
Another autumn came, the ground outside Shangjing was covered with rusty grass, and the wind was blowing from the other side of the mountain. Lang Junxia led the horse and stopped by the Jindai River and looked from afar.
Duan Ling has almost forgotten the distant Runan. After he was promoted from the Fameng class to the Mofang, and then to the Shuwen Pavilion, there were fewer and fewer Mongolian, Liao and Jin people, and more and more Han people. He also learned from his classmates. I know a lot of things that Lang Junxia never said-
For example, most of the Han people in Shangjing came from the south.
For example, the master in Mingtang was once a great scholar in Nanchen.
For example, Qionghuayuan is a place where the south and north courtyards drink and have fun, and the girls in it are brought back when they go south.
For example, in the dream of many Han people in Shangjing, there is a homeland. In that dream, catkins fly and peach blossoms bloom.
For example, although peach trees are difficult to live in Shangjing, many people are still planting them; although the books of the Han people are difficult, many people are still reading them.
For example, like Buerchijinbatu, Helianbo, Wuerlan... These famous classmates, their fathers have a special identity called "quality".
For example, the Cai family, the Lin family, the Zhao family...their family members also have a position called "Southern Officer".
And everyone is missing their hometowns. Although they haven't said anything, almost everyone firmly believes in their hearts - one day, they will go back.