“Nonsense!”
Under the lights, Zhang Lihua stood up quickly. She looked at her son behind the long desk for a moment, clenched the silk handkerchief with her fingertips, and her tone slowed down.
"Although he was not the one who killed the late emperor, he is still related to him. If Your Majesty goes to find him, how will Your Majesty explain to the ministers in the court?"
"this… "
Chen Jing stared at the piles of approval documents on the dragon case, "How did the emperor and Mr. Lu have a grudge? Does the queen mother know?"
"I don't know." Zhang Lihua on the other side hesitated for a moment, sat back in the chair, and turned her eyes away slightly.
"I don't know either." Chen Jing took a breath, put his hands on the table and stood up, looking at his mother: "That day I was still the crown prince living in the East Palace, and a demon entered the room at night. If it weren't for the jade pendant given by Mr. Lu, I would have been dead long ago. What exactly is the grudge between my father and Mr. Lu? I don't want to ask anymore at this moment. I just want to go to Qixia Mountain and ask him to come out of the mountain."
Zhang Lihua looked at her still immature son with embarrassment and sighed, "But your father's death is always related to him. Now the Sui Dynasty has just been established in the north and is preparing to march south. Jing'er, if you leave the capital, you may be criticized by the officials."
"If the Chen Dynasty is gone, why would I be afraid of being criticized?!"
The young emperor was getting a little anxious. He banged his hands on the table and walked out of the dragon table. "Mother, I have to do this because the troops from the Northern Dynasty have not yet come south to attack."
The bronze lamppost, the flame flickered quietly amid the human voices. Zhang Lihua looked at her son for a moment, then turned away.
"Go, go. Mother will ask your uncle, Chen Fu, to look after the situation in the capital. Sigh... If your father could treat his subjects so conscientiously... Never mind. Mother won't say anything. Anyway, bring more guards with you when you travel, and go early and come back early."
The young emperor brushed his dragon sleeves to the left and right, bowed to his mother opposite him, and performed the family ceremony.
"Take care, mother!"
"Jing'er too."
After some instructions, Zhang Lihua left accompanied by palace maids and eunuchs to make preparations for the emperor's trip. Chen Jing returned to the dragon case, put his mind at ease, and stroked the Pisces jade pendant that was broken into two halves on the table.
"Mr. Lu..."
The next day, when the sky was still dim, the side gate of the imperial city quietly opened, and a horse team of dozens of people rumbled through the palace roads and streets. The south gate of the outer city had received an order early to open the gate and let the team out of the city.
“Gee!” “Gee!”
Amidst the loud shouts, dozens of guards in plain clothes escorted the young man in the middle and ran wildly along the official road. They were all extremely skilled in martial arts in the palace, and they knew the route well and knew which road to take to get to Hegu County and Fushui County, so they had already made preparations before setting off.
However, considering that the emperor was still young and his body could not withstand the exertion, the leading guard ordered the team to stop and rest every fifty miles. This happened twice in a row, and Chen Jing gritted his teeth and insisted on walking eighty miles before resting again.
"Time is running out, I can't waste time on the road!"
Amid such talk, a group of dozens of people and horses moved at a fast pace. They traveled in the morning, rested for an hour at noon, and continued in the afternoon. When night fell, they stayed overnight in nearby villages and temples. The journey, which would have taken more than ten days, ended with them reaching the border of Fushui County in seven days, and was only four or five miles away from the city.
In the afternoon, Chen Jing entered the county government office, changed his clothes, took the help of a traffic policeman who showed him the way, crossed the busy street, and galloped towards Qixia Mountain.
Outside the county town, the winding mountains are golden in color in the undulating field of vision. There are many vendors on the official road, with horse-drawn and donkey-drawn carts coming and going. In the fields on both sides, it is harvest season, and clusters of millet and rice crops are put on the ground by the farmers. Children are playing barefoot in the mud on the ridges of the fields, smiling happily.
It is like a paradise, not affected by the coming war at all.
Going straight down along this road, crossing a small river, behind several protruding mountains are the fields of Lujia Village. Due to the irrigation of spiritual energy in the water, the crops mature early and are harvested and stored in each family's barn in advance. During the slack season, a group of men are either turning the soil in the fields or following Lu Pan and his eight companions to the mountains to hunt some game. Well, they don't eat bats.
Most of the women stayed at home sewing clothes and taking care of children. Sometimes they would shout to the blind old man who had set up a stall on the other side of the dam.
"Wang Banxia, can you tell me when they will come down the mountain today so I can cook."
The stout woman who bit off the needle and thread shouted at the young wife who was shouting, "How long have you been gone? You're already missing a man? When the lights are turned off at night, it's not enough for you to be wild."
The young wife blushed when she was told that, but Wang Banxia, who was selling things at the stall, just sat there smiling. He liked to listen to the dirty talk of the women in the village.
'In one day, they will be worshipping their disciples. Those three young men are so lucky. When the time comes, I will join them, light some incense and worship with them... Let's establish the incense and Taoist affinity first...'
Behind him, a dirt path led into the small fenced yard. Lu Laoshi led out his strong donkey and glanced at the empty donkey shed. He saw that his son's donkey had run away again and only the reins were left hanging on the wooden stake.
"Liangsheng, aren't you afraid that the old donkey will run away? Be careful not to get eaten by wolves if you run around all over the mountain."
No one responded from the other room. Li Jinhua, who was sitting under the eaves and was braiding Mingyue's hair, raised her head and looked at her husband.
"Liangsheng, the Taoist priest, and the fat monk have gone to the west mountain. They are not at home. Grind the beans quickly and come back early. Don't wander around."
Lu Laoshi looked at the tender little baby in his wife's arms and sighed.
… It would be nice if our Lu family also had such a child.
He walked out of the courtyard, leading the donkey. There was a slight creaking sound in the house behind him. Yuwen Tuo glanced at the woman and Mingyue over there, touched Qingyu's face, and inhaled with a hissing sound in pain.
"He raises ghosts... He also worships monsters as his masters. How can Mr. Lu be considered a master? Let's leave now while they are away."
I had this thought before on the way here, but unfortunately the fat monk was watching me closely and I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. Now the opportunity came. Seeing the woman over there concentrating on combing the child's hair, I opened the door and walked out.
He whispered, "I'm going to walk around the village and get some fresh air."
On the other side, Li Jinhua would not stop him, but she still gave him some instructions.
"Don't go up the mountain recklessly. There are many wild animals in the mountain."
"knew."
Yuwen Tuo nodded in agreement, walked out of the courtyard, loosened his clenched fists, and quickened his pace. He bypassed the crowded drying dam, climbed over the fence, and as if breaking free from a cage, quickly dived into the forest, preparing to go to the muddy road in front and follow the road until he entered the city.
"You're talking about an expert, but you can't even see through my thoughts... Let's go back to the north first. I wonder how many members of my Northern Zhou royal family are still here."
With this thought in mind, the young man pushed aside a patch of grass, stopped moving his hands and feet, and froze in shock.
In front of us, an old donkey was chewing on the bushes and looking over with its long ears shaking.
call…
On the donkey's head, a short figure was smoking a small pipe, exhaling a puff of smoke, and slowly turning his face.
"You want to leave after offending me?"
The Toad Taoist opened and closed his toad mouth, and the smile he created almost split the back of his head.