Yin Pojia led his troops to pursue him, but he did not expect to be blocked midway. He did not recognize the disguised Xuanyuan Qing, but he recognized at a glance that the leader was Prince Zhao Su. His expression immediately changed, and while he drew his sword to fight, he sternly scolded: "Your Highness, lead the troops to help us fight against the enemy." Thief, are you trying to commit treason?”
Zhao Su turned a deaf ear and only led his troops to charge forward with all his strength. The cold air spread all over his body and blocked Yin Pojia's group of people in a dilemma in a narrow mountain road. Swords clashed with each other, making loud noises, dark clouds rolled overhead, and the sound of killing could not be heard without end.
Yin Pojia leads all elite masters, and Zhao Su can no longer stop them. Rong Xuan saw that the soldiers were wary of Zhao Su's identity and did not dare to make a fatal move. He tore off a piece of black cloth to cover his face and shouted loudly through the crowd: "Yin Po Jia! Today the Queen is buried, Your Highness You lead troops to send us off, but you dare to lead people to block it. If you don't stop it quickly, if your highness is harmed at all, you will be responsible for your death!"
The generals brought by Yin Pojia were temporarily transferred from the city gate and were not his personal soldiers. They had a conflict with the prince for no reason. They were already frightened and restrained in the fight. Suddenly hearing Rong Xuan's words, they subconsciously stopped and looked at each other.
To attack the prince is tantamount to assassinating the prince. This is the crime of Zhulian!
Yin Pojia was extremely angry: "You bastard! This general is chasing Ji Fan and others who fled back to Yan. When did he stop the prince from being buried!"
Rong Xuan pointed to the queen's coffin and asked sternly: "Yin Pojia! The queen's coffin is here, can't you see it?! You faced each other with swords in front of the mother of the country and deliberately delayed the burial. You have committed the crime of disrespect." Two, don’t stop yet!”
Zhao Su's eyes sharpened, and he quickly understood what Rong Xuan meant. He pointed his sword and followed his words and said coldly: "This prince is escorting the queen out of the spirit today. This is an act of filial piety. It is only right! Yin Pojia, you Not only did he lead his troops to stop him, but he also massacred her in front of the mother's coffin. This is Zhulian's crime. Please retreat quickly and let bygones be bygones!"
There was no need for Yin Pojia to give an order, the men and horses unconsciously took three steps back after hearing the words. Yin Pojia's face turned ugly when he saw this, and he was so angry that he almost gritted his teeth. He was afraid that Ji Fan would not be able to catch up with him, so he clenched the long sword in his hand and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I will follow your Majesty's orders to capture Prince Yan and return to the capital." , No offense intended, this matter cannot be delayed, Your Highness, please give way!”
The next few words were squeezed out from between the teeth.
The mountain road is narrow, and the two groups of people have blocked the road. Unless one party retreats and gives way, the other party will definitely not be able to get through.
Rong Xuan's voice was solemn: "It's just a few people who escaped. How can the burial of the mother of the country be important? The prince is a semi-king, and the ministers still need to bow down when they see him. Yin Pojia, where do you have the courage to let His Highness Make way for you?"
No matter how stupid Yin Pojia was, he could see that Zhao Su had clearly blocked it on purpose, and he was suddenly shocked and angry: "Prince! Aren't you afraid that I will return to Beijing and report this to the Holy Emperor?!"
Zhao Su looked directly at him in the wind and sand, without evading his gaze, and said coldly: "General Yin just goes, it's best to go now."
Yin Pojia was about to say something when he heard this, but suddenly there was a rapid sound of wind above his head, and gravel fell. When he looked up, he saw a woman in green clothes appearing above the valley. She was as majestic as the abyss, holding a sword in both hands. It was Zhou Xiqiong. She couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Master Zhou!"
Zhou Xiqiong came to capture Ji Fan on the order of Emperor Zhou. If it cannot be captured alive, its life will be taken directly. Although she may not be able to fight against the thousands of soldiers and horses of the Yan Kingdom, she can only take one life among the tens of thousands of soldiers and return with her whole body.
Her eyes fell on the prince, and finally she looked at Yin Pojia. She frowned imperceptibly and asked coldly with no emotion, "Where did Ji Fan escape to?"
When Zhao Su and Rong Xuan heard this, their hearts sank. Zhou Xiqiong is famous among the Four Kingdoms for her lightness of swordsmanship, but no one knows that she is also the best in the world and is the best at assassination. Ji Fan and others are afraid that she will catch up to her soon.
Although Han Xiaoyun, the general of Yan State, is also in the team, he is old and may not be able to take advantage of Zhou Xiqiong. If the latter hides in the forest and assassinates secretly, without facing him head-on, he is afraid that he will be unable to guard against him.
Zhou Xiqiong couldn't defeat Ji Fan's thousands of soldiers and horses.
But she can secretly assassinate and take only one life!
Yin Pojia shouted anxiously: "Ji Fan has escaped into Beishan with his troops and horses. Master Zhou, hurry up and catch up! If you can't capture him alive, take his life on the spot!"
Rong Xuan's eyes turned cold when he heard this, and when he looked at Yin Pojia, he already had murderous intent. Zhao Su was also in a dilemma. Although she could lead her troops to stop Yin PoJia, she was determined not to stop Zhou Xiqiong!
Zhou Xiqiong glanced at the dense forest of Beishan after hearing this, and then looked at Yin Pojia: "Leave Ji Fan to my master to capture. General Yin disturbed the queen's burial. He immediately assisted the prince in sending the coffin to the imperial mausoleum. There must be no mistake!"
After saying that, he used Qinggong to leave, hiding in the dense forest of the valley, and disappeared in an instant.
When Zhao Su saw her leaving, his expression became serious, but Rong Xuan's deliberately lowered voice suddenly sounded from behind him: "It's okay, Your Highness, let the Queen be buried..."
Zhou Xiqiong had other people blocking her.
On the only road to Beishan, a man in black has been waiting for a long time. There was a mask on his face, so his face couldn't be seen clearly, but it was easy to tell from his clothes that were soaked by the cold air that he had been lying in wait here for at least one night.
Rong Zhengqing hid on the treetop, moved his neck, and rubbed his wrists, sighing in his heart that he was really old, and his body and bones couldn't bear it anymore. Just when he was about to change to a more comfortable tree and continue his ambush, he saw a green figure suddenly appear in his sight. The opponent jumped quickly in the forest, as fast as a flash of lightning.
Rong Zhengqing narrowed his eyes when he saw this, drew out his long sword with his backhand, and jumped down from the treetop. His sword wind is swift and domineering, with the potential to split mountains. Zhou Xiqiong was originally tracking Ji Fan and others. Suddenly he noticed the strong wind coming from behind him, and instinctively ducked sideways. However, he saw a masked man in black stabbing him with a sword, and his eyes suddenly froze.
When a master makes a move, it will naturally be extraordinary.
Zhou Xiqiong instinctively sensed that the person coming was not low in martial arts, so he immediately drew his sword to meet him. When he met the opponent, he was forcefully forced back dozens of steps, and the tiger's mouth was so shocked that it hurt. Her usually calm expression finally changed, and she vaguely felt that such a domineering move seemed familiar, but she couldn't remember it for a moment, so she asked sharply: "Who are you?!"
Rong Zhengqing smiled heartily: "I have been retired for many years and have no reputation. It's just that if you want to cross this mountain today, you must not do it!"
After saying this, he struck again with his sword, his movements wide open and closed, full of dominance, like a dragon rising out of the sea, or an eagle flapping its wings. Zhou Xiqiong is good at assassination and concealment, and hiding in the dark is her strength. Now it is inevitable that she will suffer a disadvantage if she faces him head-on.
The two of them fought hundreds of moves back and forth, and with Rong Zhengqing deliberately holding back, they fought to a close. The surrounding dense forest was injured by their sword wind, and its branches and leaves had long been cut off, forming a circular vacuum zone. Zhou Xiqiong's face was pale, and she felt unbearable pain in her arms. While she was struggling to parry Rong Zhengqing's moves, she was trying to identify the origin of his martial arts. After several more attempts, she finally managed to "close the door" with one move. "Xie Ke" noticed something, his eyes were horrified and he said, "Ye Shengchen!"
As I said earlier, leaving aside those anonymous masters, there are only five first-level sword sects that can be counted in this world: Han Xiaoyun of Beiyan, Lu Fanweng of Weiguo, Zuo Qiunian of Xiliang, and the remaining two are Da Zhou Zhou Xiqiong and Ye Shengchen.
The first few people may be generals, officials or chiefs, serving the royal family, or they may be practicing in seclusion, thoroughly studying martial arts, and trying to achieve mastery in swordsmanship, but there are traces to follow. As for Ye Shengchen, others only knew that he had an unruly nature and liked to travel around the world. No one had seen him for many years.
But only the old people who wandered around the world in the early years know that Ye Shengchen was forced to retire. Back then, there were five members of the First-Rank Sword Sect, each with their own merits, but in terms of moves, Ye Shengchen was the leader. When he was young, he was a martial arts fanatic, looking for people to compete with each other, that's all. However, he happened to have a very high level of understanding. He thoroughly studied the weaknesses and fatal points of hundreds of swordsmanships, recorded them in books, and made big taboos, which attracted the heroes to pursue him. kill.
He was unable to defeat four hands with two fists, and was finally forced to retreat without any trace.
Zhou Xiqiong is a talented person and has never met an opponent in his life. The only time he lost was a few years ago, when Ye Shengchen's proud assassination technique was easily defeated by Ye Shengchen using the "closed door to thank guests" move. I see this move again today, how can I not understand it!
Rong Zhengqing was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then laughed loudly: "Zhou Jianzong, I haven't seen you for several years, but your eyesight is still so sharp that you can still recognize the old husband. But there is no need to mention the old things again!"
Rong Zhengqing is the anonymous Ye Shengchen!
Zhou Xiqiong frowned fiercely: "Ye Shengchen, you are from Zhou, why do you want to serve the Yan Kingdom?!"
Rong Zhengqing was speechless after hearing this. Be it the Yan State or the Zhou State, the precious only son only asked for this one thing, and he wanted to stop Zhou Xiqiong no matter what. How could he not be unreasonable? Thinking of this, he no longer showed mercy and fought with Zhou Xiqiong with all his strength. The last palm knocked her back several meters away.
Zhou Xiqiong stabbed the ground with her sword, barely steadied her body, covered her chest and spit out a mouthful of blood, feeling the blood surge. She knew in her heart that she would never be able to catch up with Ji Fan and the others today. Ye Shengchen's swordsmanship was even better than a few years ago. If he continued to entangle, he might die here.
At that moment, he stopped entangled, immediately drew his sword and retreated, turned around and used Qinggong to leave the place.
At this time, the night was getting darker and the palace was already in chaos. First, the prince of Yan State fled back to the country with his private soldiers. Later, the prince-in-law complained in front of the palace, saying that Ji Fan knocked him unconscious and took the princess hostage to leave the capital. He asked Emperor Zhou to quickly send troops to pursue him. The piles of piles were added up, and Emperor Zhou felt that his head was about to explode.
Especially when Yin Pojia and Zhao Su buried the queen's coffin in the imperial mausoleum and returned to the palace to see her, a bunch of lawsuits were involved that were constantly being sorted out and messed up.
"Your Majesty, I have been ordered to arrest Ji Fan and others today. I never thought that His Highness the Prince would deliberately lead troops to stop them, causing the remaining Yan State to flee. More than 2,000 of Ji Fan's 3,000 elite soldiers were taken away from the capital by Princess Yannian. There are also hundreds of people who were taken out by the king of Ruling. These three people have committed treason and are very serious. Please punish them severely!"
Yin Pojia knelt down in the hall, and after speaking, he kowtowed heavily to Emperor Zhou and gnashed his teeth, showing that he hated him to the extreme.
Beside him were kneeling Zhao Yannian who was crying and scared, Yan Fengchen who looked wronged, Zhao Su who looked calm, and Princess Yongning who came over after hearing the news.
Princess Yongning had just entered the palace gate and heard nothing else. She just heard Yin Pojia saying that Nalan Chun had committed treason. How could he bear the thought of others slamming the shit basin on his precious son? He stepped forward directly, eyebrows raised, and gave Yin Pojia a resounding slap in the face: "Bastard! When did Prince Ruling offend you? Do you want to do this?" Slander him!"
Princess Yongning was favored by the late emperor, and she was not easy to mess with. Most of Nalanchun's domineering behavior followed her. This slap immediately stunned Yin Pojia, leaving three long nail marks on his face.
"Although the King of Ruling County has been messing around a lot on weekdays, he is the King of a country. What reason does he have to help those remnants of the Yan Kingdom? But even if he brought hundreds of people to the mountains to hunt, is it worthy of your words in front of His Majesty? !”
Princess Yongning finished the slap, and then knelt down in front of Emperor Zhou. With red eyes, she cried and explained: "Brother Emperor, you have watched this child Chun'er grow up. How could he have the courage to do such a thing? My sister heard the news. , immediately went back to the house to investigate, and found that there were indeed hundreds of servants missing, and they had all gone hunting with him in the mountains. How could they be remnants of the Yan Kingdom? "
It is false that hundreds of servants are missing from the house. But in order to clear Nalan Chun's guilt, Princess Yongning had no choice but to make up lies.
Yin Pojia was slapped in the hall, his face was green and white, and he was extremely ugly. He asked aloud: "The Prince of Ruling County has not gone up the mountain in the morning and has not gone up the mountain in the evening. Why did he go up the mountain today?!"
Princess Yongning's eyes widened when she heard this, as if she was about to spit out fire: "You didn't seal the city gate sooner or later. Why did you seal the city gate when my son went up to the mountain to hunt?! Could it be that you wanted to accept me on purpose? Is Lan Man against you?”
Yin Pojia sneered again and again: "First, Princess Yannian left the city first, then Prince Ruling came out of the city, and then the prince led troops out of the city to intercept. You three families have always been close. If you say there is no collusion, who will believe it!"
Emperor Zhou sat at the top, his face so gloomy that he could drip water. He slammed the table, his voice shook the hall, and everyone trembled in fright: "What happened today, tell me everything." Come!"
Yan Fengchen knelt beside him, lowered his head and explained in a low voice: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly asked Erchen to drink today, and as a result... He took the opportunity to knock Erchen out... and took the princess hostage to leave the capital..."
Zhao Yannian cried so hard, with tears streaming down his face, that he gestured to Emperor Zhou: "He... He put a knife on my neck... He was so scary... He said that if I didn't listen to him... he would kill me... "
Princess Yongning also wiped her tears with a handkerchief and said with red eyes: "Chun'er heard that the Queen Mother was afraid of the cold and said that she wanted to go up the mountain to hunt a good white fox for her to make a shawl, so she took people out of the city to hunt."
Zhao Su looked calm and used the excuse Rong Xuan taught her to explain: "When I heard that my mother was buried, I wanted to see her off for the last time and fulfill her duty as a son, so I led people to forcefully leave the city. Seeing General Yin leading his troops to pursue him, I mistakenly thought that he was going to arrest his son, so the conflict broke out."
Yin Pojia was so angry that his face was livid and his whole body was trembling. He stared at the four of them fiercely, wishing he could carve out the flesh. He gritted his teeth and said, "You are colluding and collaborating!"
Then he turned to look at Emperor Zhou: "Your Majesty! You must not listen to their excuses! Someone must be secretly helping Ji Fan leave the capital, otherwise how could he leave so easily!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the eunuch's announcement from outside. It turned out that Zhou Xiqiong was back. She was obviously seriously injured, her sleeves were bruised, and the blood on her mouth was still wet. After entering the hall, she looked pale and apologized to Emperor Zhou: "I am incompetent and failed to kill Prince Yan."
She has a good status, which shows that the emperor does not worship her. Although he was seriously injured, he still stood upright.
Yin Pojia's pupils shrank suddenly when he heard this. He forgot the etiquette in his impatience and subconsciously said: "Master Zhou, who is a first-class swordsman, how can he not be able to kill a mere Ji Fan?!"
Princess Yongning finally caught him, and said angrily: "Why, General Yin wants to say that Mr. Zhou committed treason and defected to the Yan Kingdom? You just wronged us, but you also wronged Mr. Zhou."
When Zhou Xiqiong heard this, her eyes were cold, like two cold swords, and she looked directly at Yin Pojia: "What do you mean?!"
Yin Pojia was frightened by the coldness seeping from her body and remained silent for a moment.
In fact, let alone Yin Po Jia, even Emperor Zhou found it unbelievable when he heard the news. He frowned and said in a deep voice: "Ji Fan's side is only a few thousand people, how could you be injured like this?"
Zhou Xiqiong said with an ugly face: "Wei Chen was stopped by Ye Shengchen during the pursuit. He was defeated and seriously injured during the fight, so he had to turn back."