Late at night, Puzhou Station.
The King of Jin and his entourage did not enter the prefecture city. In order to speed up their journey, they stayed directly at the post house on Guan Road.
The journey was hard and everyone was fast asleep. At this moment, a miserable scream suddenly came from the woodshed where Wei was being held for a price.
Li Junxian was leading the troops on guard duty. He hurried over after hearing the news. He opened the door and saw that the tied-up Wei Baiji was twitching on the ground. His face was black and foaming at the corners of his mouth. He was obviously poisoned!
Li Junxian was suddenly shocked and angry: "What's going on?!"
Just after he finished drinking, Wei Daiqi twitched and seemed to have died.
"Who did it?!" Li Junxian was furious and roared, "Arrest everyone in the post house and block the nearby passages. The murderer must be caught!"
"yes!!"
With this commotion, the entire post house immediately exploded. The King of Jin and his entourage were quite large, plus the passing officials, gentry, and ministers from the post house, there were a total of six to seven hundred people. All of them were unable to sleep and were woken up by the noise. Li Junxian gathered everyone together to investigate the murderer.
At dawn, people from Puzhou Yamen also arrived. Li Junxian revealed his identity and strictly ordered the governor's Yamen to find the murderer as soon as possible. Because the deceased was a repeat offender of the imperial court, the body must be transported back to the imperial capital for investigation!
The governor's office of Puzhou was extremely unlucky to receive such a major case, so the whole state fell into a state of tension and busyness.
The news that Wei Daiqi, a serious criminal in the imperial court, died suddenly in Puzhouyi also spread quickly.
Because of the case, King Jin and his party were delayed in Puzhou for a day, and then set off for Chang'an as usual. Wei's "corpse" to be priced was put into a coffin and transported back together.
After entering Chang'an, Li Chunfeng suddenly said not to enter Chang'an directly, but to take a circuitous route from Zhongnan Mountain. Neither Li Zhi nor Li Junxian dared to ask any more questions, so they had to do as they were told. When they arrived at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, Li Chunfeng asked King Jin and his party to wait here while he went up the mountain first. Before leaving, Li Chunfeng told King Jin that he saw a fire burning somewhere on Zhongnan Mountain tonight, where King Wu was, and asked King Jin to send someone to the mountain to rescue him as soon as possible!
Li Chunfeng was so mysterious that Li Junxian and Li Zhi were full of suspicion, but because he came to respect the holy order, they did not dare to ask more questions and had to comply.
Therefore, King Jin and his party of more than 500 men and horses set up camp at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain and rested their horses temporarily. Just waiting for a fire to break out on the mountain after nightfall, he went up the mountain to rescue people.
Along the way, Wei's coffins that were waiting for price were all guarded by special personnel, and today was no exception. The carriage carrying the coffin was covered with a marching tent. Li Junxian scolded the people around and entered the tent himself, then knocked on the coffin board.
"Are we here? Let me out quickly!" Someone's voice came from inside.
If he hadn't known that the coffin contained a living person, anyone would have been frightened out of his wits.
Li Junxian smiled and moved forward to move the movable coffin board. Wei Daiqi, whose face was painted black, sat up from inside, his face was like a Rakshasa, which was really scary.
"I'm so suffocated! Let's dig two more holes under the coffin board later!" Wei Baiqi said while wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"No need." Li Junxian handed him two steamed buns, "I have wronged you these past few days. Now we have arrived at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain."
Wei Daiqi's movement of biting the steamed buns stalled for a moment, "Arrived in Chang'an?"
"That's right." Li Junxian frowned, "I think it's time for the dust to settle on the current chaotic situation. Later, as long as a fire breaks out on Zhongnan Mountain, everything... will come to light. !”
Zhongnan Mountain, deep in the dense forest.
Zhao Chong walked step by step in the dark forest, his eyes like eagles shining brightly in the dark night.
When he reached the foot of a towering locust tree, Zhao Chong stopped. Because he saw a person standing under the tree. It was too dark to see his face. He could only see the fluttering skirts of his white robe, which seemed a bit eerie and ghostly.
"Are you here?" the man in white asked.
"Yes, I'm here." Zhao Chong said, "You finally showed up? We are all impatient to wait."
"Go on." The man in white suddenly threw something towards Zhao Chong, and Zhao Chong reached out to catch it.
It was an extremely delicate small box. Zhao Chong opened it, and a strange light suddenly burst out, illuminating the darkness like daylight!
It was through this strange light that both Zhao Chong and the man in white could see each other's faces clearly. The two looked at each other and smiled tacitly, and Zhao Chong closed the box again.
"Good baby!"
"This bead is called 'Holy Bodhi'. It is a rare treasure presented by the Silla Kingdom. It was once only mounted on the crown of the Silla King and is extremely valuable. When Silla was besieged by Goguryeo and Baekje, it asked for help from the Tang Dynasty, so it offered this pearl to the Tang Dynasty. Treasure." The man in white said, "Take it and fly far away, never to appear in the Central Plains again!"
Zhao Chong smiled and said, "This is much less than the reward given by King Wei."
"Not necessarily." The man in white said normally, "The king of Wei gave you money to buy your life, and Saint Bodhi is your pension money. Which one do you choose?"
"What do you think?" Zhao Chong smiled and put the small box into his arms, patted it and said with a smile, "Zhao can live to this day, your majesty has treated me well. Now he has given me the orb to let me go." Zhao is content to fly away."
"Where is His Highness King Wu?" the man in white asked.
"Sleeping." Zhao Chong said, "In the afternoon, my people saw a group of soldiers and horses coming down from the foot of the mountain. After inquiring, I learned that it was the King of Jin and his party. Among them... I also saw you - Li Taishi! Zhao Then he knew it was time to end everything. So, Zhao gave His Highness King Wu a little drug during dinner and made him sleep soundly. "
"Very good. Your work is really reassuring." Li Taishi, that is, Li Chunfeng said solemnly, "Then, let's go now!"
Zhao Chong gritted his teeth and whispered: "What will happen to everyone in the Taoist temple, including King Wu?"
"No need to ask any more questions." Li Chunfeng's voice deepened, "There are some things you shouldn't know!"
"Okay, I'll go... I'll go!" Zhao Chong took a deep breath and nodded with furrowed eyebrows, "Although Zhao is a reckless person, he has always believed in the word 'righteousness' first in his life. This time... "
"What is righteousness? What is great righteousness and what is small righteousness?"
Zhao Chong was stunned for a moment, then sighed helplessly, "Okay, Zhao understands... the dignity of the royal family and the stability of the country are the greatest righteousness in the world!"
"Just understand." Li Chunfeng said calmly, "Let's go! You are already a dead person and should not appear in the Tang Dynasty from now on. Palace secret treasures like Saint Bodhi cannot reappear in the Central Plains."
"Zhao understands..." Zhao Chong nodded, "I fled to the Western Regions incognito and will never return to the Central Plains!"
"It's okay to go to the Western Regions..." Li Chunfeng said leisurely, "If you see that person, you can tell him the details of King Wu's case. And tell him that His Majesty the Emperor has always trusted him and valued him, and... Miss him very much!"
"Ha!" Zhao Chong laughed, "How did Li Taishi know that I would go to see that person?... I know too much, and I am an ominous person. In order not to hurt my friends, I will only live quietly by myself from now on. , won’t go see anyone—goodbye!”
After saying that, Zhao Chong's figure flashed and disappeared into the dense forest.
Li Chunfeng sighed softly, shook his head and said to himself: "If you don't care for yourself, you will be punished by heaven and earth!... Nowadays, the world is in chaos, and everyone is like a chess piece on a chessboard, rising and falling involuntarily. But there are How many people understand that the overall situation has already been determined? - His Majesty the Emperor is lying in bed in Penglai and is groggy day and night, but he has everything under control; Qin Mubai's house is motionless, but he has already decided the outcome secretly with the Tianxian in his mouth. "
"In the final analysis, all these major events are caused by the competition between the two of them; in the end, it is the two of them who dominate the direction and outcome of the situation!" Li Chunfeng shook his head and sighed, " It turns out that real masters fight without seeing the light of the sword, or even with the use of tricks... I am so stupid that I can only be manipulated by them and fight to the death!... Only today did I understand what kind of person is truly worthy of me. The word "hero"!
Soon after, a fire broke out in the woods. The green forest masters in the Taoist temple were all awakened and were about to form a group to put out the fire and respond to the enemy, but their bodies were all weak and their heads were spinning. Not to mention fighting, it was not easy to stand still.
At this moment, countless officers and soldiers came from all directions to kill. Rush into the Taoist temple and kill everyone on sight without saying a word!
King Wu Li Ke was naturally awakened. When he woke up, he found that he was tied up and thrown into the bed, and his mouth was stuffed with cotton cloth so that he could not make any sound. The Taoist temple was ablaze with people fighting and screaming!
I tried to struggle, but the rope was tied extremely tightly, and my limbs were even more sore and weak! He couldn't help but be shocked - "Is my time limit up? - Zhao Chong!!"
At this moment, the door of the room was kicked open, and then a shout was heard: "Found it! Found it! His Highness King Wu is here!"
Immediately, a group of elite Hundred Cavalry soldiers rushed in, and the leader was Li Junxian, the Hundred Cavalry Order!
"Your Majesty, your rescue is late. Your Majesty, King Wu, please forgive me!" After seeing the ceremony, Li Junxian hurriedly untied Li Ke himself.
"What... what's going on?" Li Ke just asked this question when a person rushed in from the door, screaming from a distance -
"Third brother? Where is my third brother?!"
Li Ke was stunned, "Prince Jin?"
Li Zhi had already run up to him, with an expression of confusion and surprise on his face, and grabbed Li Ke's arms, "Third brother, third brother! You are really okay! That's great! - Wuwuwu!!"
Li Zhi actually cried with joy.
Li Ke was stunned for a moment and thought to himself: What is going on? I was obviously waiting here with Zhao Chong for news, but unexpectedly King Jin and Li Junxian came to "rescue" me? In fact, I have been under house arrest at most, and Zhao Chong did not feel sorry for me. He was still my savior. Why did these two gangs start fighting
At this moment, Li Chunfeng walked up, smiled calmly at Li Ke, and then cupped his hands and said: "His Royal Highness King Wu, King Jin received a secret report that His Highness was robbed by thieves and hidden in a Taoist temple here in Zhongnan Mountain. Therefore, The King of Jin used a false plan to destroy Guo. When he was traveling to Beijing and passing through Zhongnan Mountain, he attacked a Taoist temple at night and saved His Highness the King of Wu! "
Li Ke suddenly realized it! ! !
"I understand, I understand..." He took a deep breath and kept sighing in his heart, "Everything is a situation! It is a dangerous situation! It is an extremely cruel and painful situation!... "
So, Li Ke knelt down to Li Zhi in front of everyone, "Thank you so much, King Jin, for saving your life! This kindness is like a new life, Ke, I will never forget it, and I will repay you even to the death!!"
Li Zhi suddenly panicked, and when his knees went weak, he knelt down towards Li Ke, "How can you do this, third brother? There is no reason for an elder brother to kneel down to his younger brother. Isn't it embarrassing the younger brother? Please get up quickly!!"
Everyone also tried to persuade them, and the two princes stood up together.
Li Ke held Li Zhi's hand with a smile and said: "Brother Ninth, from now on, Brother Yu will share life and death with you! Everyone present can testify!"
Li Chunfeng watched all this quietly, with a smile that was both gratifying and helpless on his face, and said to himself: We are in the same boat and sharing life and death together! ...The King of Wu was wise and clever, while the King of Jin was blunt and dull. This can be seen from this! From then on, the news that King Jin had done a great favor to King Wu to save his life will surely spread throughout the world. In the future, the King of Wu will establish a crown prince and ascend the throne, and the King of Jin will be safe!
Your Majesty, you have such good intentions!
It's just a pity that there are more than a dozen innocent souls in this Taoist temple who should have been saved!
…
In a mountain col in the distance, Zhao Chong stared blankly at the fire soaring into the sky in the night sky. His teeth were clenched and his face was tensed. The distant firelight was reflected in his pupils, shining like a fluorescent light.
Zhao Chong knelt down and kowtowed eighteen times on the ground.
"Brothers! It's not that Zhao is greedy for life and wants to enjoy wealth all to himself! It's just that this situation is too dangerous. There must be some people who act as pawns crossing the river and sacrifice their lives! Otherwise... tens of millions of people may die. , and the world will be in chaos from now on!"
"Brothers, listen to your innocent souls! The poison was poisoned by Zhao; the fire seems to have been set by Zhao! - If there is an afterlife, Zhao is willing to be cut into pieces by you and others without any complaints! "