Changes in the sky
Volume 2: The Edge of Heaven
Chapter 179: Shangsi Festival (Part 2)
I had always thought that wearing a hunting suit was unnecessary, but now I think it is right to wear a suit of armor. In the future, when I am asked to escort or accompany important people, I will definitely dress neatly, and even prepare a few simple suits, the number of which is equal to the number of important people. At least if I have such a suit now, I can quickly put it on the girl in front.
Looking at the arrow trembling slightly in front of me, I was not frightened, but a little angry. There was such a thief in Shanglin Garden, he was really too bold. In a hurry, while turning around to prevent the arrow, I urged the princess to get into the second prince's carriage and ordered the entourage to escort the prince and princess back quickly. When the curtain was lowered, the servants were panicking and turning the car around, I lowered my body and urged the horse to the direction where the arrow came from. Hei was also brave, and he drove with me and responded to my shouts.
There were no more arrows shot from the other side, and there was no big movement in the bushes. Could it be that a single assassin saw that his one arrow was ineffective and fled.
After chasing for dozens of steps, he felt that the situation was not right, so he quickly reined in his horse, covered his body with his weapon, and watched quietly. There was indeed no obvious movement. He turned his horse's head, raised his weapon, and quickly caught up with the hurriedly leaving convoy. He turned back several times to look at the bushes behind him, and always felt something strange.
Then he returned to Li Garden where he had rested not long ago.
I always felt that something was wrong ahead, so I stood up on horseback to see farther, and then I gave the order to leave the garden first.
He ordered people to stand guard inside the garden wall, especially on the observation towers at the four corners, before letting the two get off the car.
The prince didn't seem afraid, but asked me why I stopped. The princess didn't object, but her eyes showed that she wanted to hear my opinion.
To my surprise, the two nobles were not afraid or panicked at all. The second prince was more suspicious, while the second princess was more excited.
"Reporting to the Second Prince and Princess, this place has always been guarded by guards and should be a safe place. Although the way back is a gentle mountain road, there are trees on both sides. Since there is someone ahead who can snipe us, he must be very familiar with the terrain and even knows our route. I just chased him, but there is no news. It seems that this thief escaped after missing the target. If he has a shortcut on the mountain road and has ambushed us before us, and we haven't found any clues, it would be dangerous. I will order people to go down the mountain and dispatch some soldiers and carriages that can be used as auxiliary vehicles, and then evacuate."
Actually, I didn't. I saw some big rocks blocking the mountain road! Obviously, when we passed by, someone had come here to make arrangements, so it was obvious that they had set an ambush on the way back.
In fact, I was a little confused. If they were going to set up an ambush, why did they set it up here? However, considering the dead trees just now, they might want to ambush us when we were moving the stones. Even if they didn't attack us at that time, since they had moved the stones, they would be going back, so they could set up an ambush with peace of mind. But this place is so close to Liyuan, and there are at least dozens of soldiers guarding Liyuan. Isn't it absurd to ambush here
I was afraid of scaring them, and I even hesitated whether I should send people to ask for help, and how many to send. If I sent too few, I was really afraid that they wouldn't be able to get through at all, and if I sent too many, there wouldn't be enough people to help me guard this mountain garden for the time being.
The most worrying thing is that I really can't imagine who or what kind of person can or would come to snipe us like this. To make such an arrangement in the heavily guarded Shanglin Garden, apart from the emperor, it seems that only my father or his son has this power, but I can't imagine that my father or his son would do this to me or the prince and princess.
"How do you know there was an ambush?" The second prince's tone was still not very friendly.
"Your Highness, I see four pine trees in front of me, their branches and leaves have turned yellow and withered. They are facing each other, and they can just block our entire team from front to back. This is very suspicious. If these trees have been cut down long ago, and they are just tied there with ropes, and when we pass through, the bandits in front and behind hear the signal and knock them down together, blocking us in the middle, and the bandits jump up and shoot arrows at us, what should we do? Therefore, I hurriedly ordered them to turn back."
"Why did the thief only fire one arrow?"
"Maybe it's because the distance is still far. The dead tree is still a hundred steps away from us."
"Can you please raise your hand and lift your sleeve?" Perhaps he heard the sound of silk tearing.
I naturally followed the order.
"It can pass through the sleeve and penetrate deep into the side of the car door. The distance is enough."
"Perhaps because there was only one person who could hold a strong bow, and he was the leader. After this arrow, I turned around, and seeing that there was no hope of harm for the time being, I ordered the other bandits to lie in wait for the time being. I originally wanted to ride forward to test the situation, but when I saw that there was no commotion, it was difficult to understand the enemy's situation. I was also afraid that there were still unknown dangers in the forest, so I withdrew." I always felt that the Second Prince was very unfriendly to me, so I explained a little more. It happened that my mind was quick at this time, and it was much simpler to think at this time than when I had settled down.
The second prince ended the conversation with a sneer, which made the second princess unhappy. She blamed him for being so rude to his brother.
The child just snorted in response. I didn't try to persuade him much, as I felt the more I tried, the worse it would be. I quickly excused myself and said I was going to send someone to report the incident and check for sentries.
The second princess followed me out. I didn't want to turn around and pretended I didn't hear her footsteps, but I was still stopped. She apologized on behalf of her brother first: "I didn't act like this before. I don't know why. Maybe I was frightened and lost my manners. Please don't blame me, brother."
I quickly told her that the princess was very polite and it was okay.
"And... well, thank you for risking your life to protect me." To be honest, I didn't know what I felt when I heard this. I came to my senses and quickly waved my hand, saying that the princess didn't need to thank me, and that this was the responsibility of the wise. I felt that my words were a bit too cold and heartless, but considering the princess's various girlish thoughts, I didn't dare to go beyond that, and added: Besides, it is natural for a brother to protect his sister, and the princess doesn't need to care about it.
The princess hesitated, her eyes flickering and uncertain. I said the situation was urgent and I left quickly.
I need to calm down and sort out my thoughts. The thief ambushed me in front of me. Although I saw through it, he could immediately set up obstacles on the way back to stop me. This thief is not coming. When I clear the roadblocks, it is probably the moment when the disaster is about to happen.
I immediately asked the soldiers who were guarding the gate whether they had seen anyone coming and going, but they both said no. I looked at where they were guarding and I could not see the pile of stones. I asked if they had heard any unusual noises, but they both said no.
I climbed up to the observation tower to look around, but I couldn't see the pile of rocks because of a rock. It seemed that the only way to avoid the rock's obstruction to my view was by staying on the road.
The dozens of soldiers and generals I brought with me were either to monitor the garden from above or to patrol the courtyard, or to compare or participate in inspections. They were not allowed to act alone. Any changes were to be reported to me immediately.
Walking in the corridor, my mood changed a lot. The clouds in the mountains were unpredictable and strange. Suddenly, a piece of it dispersed, revealing a hideous one. No matter how you looked at it, it was a dangerous place.
The thief blocked me here, on the downhill slope a hundred steps away from the garden. I felt more and more that there was something strange about this garden.
I quickly summoned all the soldiers who were originally guarding the garden and all the servants and maids who were taking care of the place, and asked them if anyone had come in recently.
They knew the situation was not good, but they were not distant. They talked to each other, some tried to distance themselves from the matter, saying that they were cleaning the inner room and had no time to care; some said they heard noises outside the wall, but did not see them; some said that some people came and went, but because they were dressed as Yulin, they did not dare to question them. I asked if anyone came in. They had been outside, but did not come in. At this point, this person felt relieved. Seeing his look, I also felt a little relieved.
I hurried to pay my respects to the Second Princess and the Second Prince. They seemed safe, but after taking a few steps, I felt unsafe again, so I sent a few more people to protect them.
I still felt uneasy, so I found a room and called in the maids and eunuchs who were originally here to ask them one by one, including how many people were here, who came in and out frequently, and where they lived. The answers I got were basically the same. If there was no problem, then everyone was in collusion. This round of questioning ended until the sun set.
I think it's better to believe in them, which can make me feel more at ease. I think back to my own questions and the answers of these people.
All the guards lived outside the courtyard, guarding only important entrances and exits. The maids lived in the backyard of the courtyard. When someone came, they responded. When no one was around, they did some daily cleaning. There weren't so many people originally. Many of them were transferred by Zishi to prepare for the emperor's sacrifice to Mount Taiyi in the future. These people who were transferred later should be fine. After these days, they are familiar with each other. After all, there are only about twenty people in this courtyard. They usually talk about everything. Especially between the maids and the guards at the door, anything would be discussed. The person who mentioned this topic was theoretically a eunuch. In addition to the unnatural voice, there was also obvious resentment and unwillingness.
I couldn't help laughing when I thought of this, but then I couldn't laugh anymore.
There is a problem here. Just now, there was a point where at least one of the three parties, the eunuch, the maidservant, and the garrison soldier, was very likely to have lied. And there is also the possibility that all three parties lied.
But I'm not afraid that all three parties are lying, I'm just afraid that one of them is lying.
Even if we put aside all the unclear things here, the soldiers I brought with me are suspicious at this moment. These people are not my personal followers brought from the Kingdom of Yue, and there seem to be quite a few Yulin Guards among them.
I checked the number of people and asked their identities. They were all picked by Li Zhen, 20 Yulin Guards and 20 guards from the capital. Most of them were eunuchs and maids brought from the palace to serve the two princes, and the coachmen and grooms were always under the Shanglinyuan Chariot and Vehicle Department.
At least for now, the outside of the courtyard seems very peaceful, except for the wind blowing from time to time, raising a cloud of mist, covering or revealing the white veil of the mountain, leaving only the gurgling spring water in the corridor.
I could only hold on to my weapon and try to maintain stability. Although everyone obeyed my orders now, it seemed that only the second princess was the most trustworthy, but she was not a general who could be deployed or a soldier who could be used.
Although there are towering mountains around us, they are beyond the range of bows and crossbows, so it is impossible for them to snipe us from above. If there are many bandits outside, they can just fight us desperately, and we will have no hope of survival. So either they don't want to kill us, or they don't have enough people, or they have other plans.
Perhaps they piled up those rocks just to block our attack in this remote mountain area, but this is the best outcome. I dare not take the risk, after all, I have such a noble couple by my side.
And they should have already settled some people here, otherwise why would they set up a fence here.
But I couldn't determine their purpose based on just that one arrow. Without knowing their purpose, I felt like a headless fly.
It is obviously too risky to move those rocks and go down the mountain rashly. Of course, if it were just me, I would definitely do it. The reason is that if I set an ambush, how can I remind you where the ambush may be. But there may be some people who are really blind, plus these two valuable burdens around, it really takes some thought to dodge.
Suddenly I heard the sound of horse hooves outside, and ordered someone to go and see and report immediately. But I ran straight back to the house where the princess and the prince lived, and asked them to let me know first, and then said that I would be stationed in the courtyard, and if there was any emergency, they could call me immediately.
Hearing the horses neighing, I suddenly felt like I understood something.
From that arrow, I initially felt vaguely that the matter was related to the Second Prince.
I also think the reason may be related to Queen He.
Since the others cannot be trusted for the time being, I will stay by the side of the main person and act accordingly.
I really want to know who planned all this. The boldness, secrecy of the preparation, and speed of execution are beyond my imagination before I came here.
Suddenly I remembered what Brother Meng De said about relaxing, and it really made me feel anxious. I suspected that Brother Meng De might know about this matter or even be involved in it, although I couldn't figure out his intention in planning this. I was protecting the eldest prince, which was understandable, after all, the prince he wanted to establish was the one in the wing next to me.
But I really can't think of anyone else who would make such a big fuss in Shanglin Garden. And their purpose seems to be easy to consider.
If the Second Prince dies, I will be blamed for escorting him; if I am lucky enough to escape and not be punished, everyone in the court will probably know that I am in favor of the eldest son, and the world will definitely suspect that I was ordered by someone to kill the Second Prince. In addition, considering the rumors about the Queen and I being the mother and son, and the fact that the Second Prince's mother was killed by Queen He, it is very likely that I will be considered to have been ordered by Queen He.
As for the second princess… I really can’t think of any connection between her life and death. Wait, I suddenly seem to have thought of something. Originally, the queen wanted her to marry me as her legal wife, but then she seemed to suspect that I was her biological son, so she gave up the idea and turned to the teacher’s eldest son. But most people still say that she wants to marry me. If the princess is killed, this marriage will not be successful, and the teacher or I will lose a stable backer.
I, a long time ago, thought about why I was appointed as the regent. In fact, I have always had some doubts, until I figured out that my existence is a natural bridge between the regents. Father, teacher, and brother Meng De originally lacked connections with each other, but my existence made them closely connected. However, now, although I went to the south, my sister married Meng De, and many of my teacher's old ministers returned to my father, and it seems that there is a further connection. But it seems that I am still indispensable. If I am alive, I will be the best candidate to mediate the conflicts between the many regents. When the crown prince is established, I will mediate between the elders, and my identity allows me to travel around at any time without taboos.
Putting these three things together, the death of any of us three would be disadvantageous to the four of us. Especially if I died, it would be one less.
And it seems that I am the one who suffers the most. Either I die, or I lose my so-called legal wife, or I am considered by everyone to be a murderer who murdered the prince.
I began to think it might have something to do with me.
So who is my enemy
At present, I know that the one who knows the most is Wang Guo. Even under the protection of Brother Meng De, he should know that I want to kill him. But I trust Brother Meng De and he will not murder me at this critical moment and harm all the regents. The world is gradually becoming stable, and there are still many things to do in the future. How can we let the regents fight among themselves at this time
Well, apart from him, since I was promoting a marriage between the Northwest and Northeast gangs, it seemed a bit unreasonable for them to kill me.
Although I have dealt with a vassal king with the surname Liu, which directly led to the destruction of his country, it is impossible for the Liu clan to do so. If they specifically wanted to kill me, it would be fine, but if they hurt the princess and the prince, their crime would be too serious. Moreover, they are the ones who are most restricted by the emperor, and there is definitely no room for them in Shanglin Garden.
Then a word appeared in my mind. Considering the courtyard by the Luo River that day, I thought that only this family might do this, and only they could accomplish such a big thing.
But there are too many people in this family, and their disciples and former officials are spread all over the court. They only need one or two people to come forward to arrange it and perhaps it can be done.
After all, I was with the Second Prince, so I always felt that Queen He might have tacitly approved it. Because they only shot one arrow. Seeing that I was protecting the carriage and the princess, they did not shoot the second arrow, but blocked it with a tree, which was obviously more like blocking the carriage. It was not to hurt me. The Queen always regarded me as her long-lost son. If she had approved it, she would definitely not hurt me. It seems that some problems can be explained, but if the Second Prince is in trouble, how can I escape the blame
As time goes by, things always get stuck in dead ends and contradictions that are difficult to resolve.
There is another inevitable victim, I suddenly thought of Zishi, the deployment of troops in this garden is mostly under his command. Although I firmly believe that this matter is definitely not done by Zishi, he will definitely not be held accountable.
And my father is also to blame, after all, he is assisting the government. Thinking back to the night of the Lantern Festival, my father could only spend it with the literati of Uncle Cai's lineage, while that family was full of guests, including the emperor's family, the teacher and Brother Meng De, which was really chilling.
The clouds and mountains transformed into all kinds of ghosts and monsters. The light in the yard was uncertain. The weeds that had just sprouted out of the house looked like they had just been cut. The sound of horse hooves was silent for a long time, but no one came to report the news. Only a few crows croaked from nowhere.
Suddenly, a surprised "Huh" broke the silence in the princess' room. I quickly went to the corridor and asked: "Princess, what's the surprise?"
The door opened, and the princess turned around and squatted again, picking up her brocade bag from the ground. It seemed that it was stuck by something, and she had to pull it up with great effort.
Then she told me that there was iron under the floor.
I asked her how she knew that, and the princess took out a black stone from her brocade bag. It was a magnet, which Huangfu Ruo gave to her when they were playing together. It could attract iron blocks.
I know about magnetite. When I was in Xiangyang, I heard that there was this kind of stone in the mountains a hundred miles to the east. It can be used to smelt iron and make medicine, but I have never seen it.
I took the stone and sucked the Iron Wolf. Sure enough, it was sucked up and it took quite a bit of effort to pull it off.
I squatted down next to that floor again and pressed it hard. I felt that it was very thin and a little strange. I pressed the others. Except for that one, the other ones were a little thin. The others were very solid. It felt even weirder. I used a magnet to pass through it. All the thin floors had some suction. The connected floors were about ten feet long, almost as long as my weapon.
I couldn't suppress my anxiety, so I clenched my fist and hit her. It was really thin, and a hole was immediately punched through it. My hand felt like it was hit by an iron rod. I have to admit that it was very painful to act calm in front of my sister.
Of course, even if I said something was wrong at that time, it would still be a very painful thing.
He held the iron stick in his hand and shouted to "Princess, please stand back."
After the princess hid behind a curtain, he lifted her up with force.
There was a burst of flying wood chips.
A girl's scream was heard beside my ear.
Then, I really wanted to ask myself which hand I used to lift it.
Judging from the pain in the hand, it should be the right hand.
The reason why I asked this silly question is because I was holding two identical weapons in my hands!
I became convinced that the whole conspiracy was aimed at me.
At least the people who designed this were determined to get rid of me, and they did a lot to achieve this goal.
And the most vicious thing about this plot is that it doesn't necessarily require killing me on the spot.
It is hard to imagine how difficult it is to fight with two fragile burdens. And they must be by my side. If they are not by my side, when I find them, whether they are alive or dead, they cannot have any wounds that can be left by the Heavenly Wolf. If they have other wounds, although I will be convicted of poor protection, I will not be sentenced to death. However, if they are wounds left by the Heavenly Wolf, it will be difficult for me to explain. It is because it is difficult to find another person in Shanglin or even in the world who can make me use such weapons.
After thinking for a moment, I really couldn't think of anyone else who had the same weapon, which made it even more difficult for me to proceed. I felt that whoever suggested that the emperor reward me with this weapon must have a problem.
I found the wood chip residues and smelled them. There was a distinct smell of tung oil, so they must have been newly replaced.
Perhaps the best evidence to keep me safe is this tool that was prepared to frame me.
"Princess, please go to the second prince's room to see if there are any more cases like this." I don't think there will be many. One is enough. Two is superfluous. If it is not handled properly in the end, it will expose itself. I just let the two of them together so that I can take care of them.
Turning around, I saw the second prince standing at the door!
The child smiled, with a calmness that was unimaginable for his age: "It seems that they want to kill you."
Somehow, the tone became friendly.
I nodded. "Well, they want to use you to restrain me, and if they fail to kill me, they will probably sacrifice at least one of you, or all of you."
I asked them both to sit down together and asked in a low voice, "Why did we come here? It was decided long ago, but I had no idea about it."
"Maybe it has something to do with Jin'er?" The prince said in an adult manner.
"My sister?"
"Why is it related to Jin'er?" Her Royal Highness the Second Princess was also very interested.
"Brother Zirui, my second sister may not know this." I finally heard a few words from Brother Rui after such a long time, which made me feel much more at ease: "The Queen Mother plans to let my brother marry Jin'er. Tomorrow is the Daughter's Day, which is a good day for engagement. My presence, haha, seems inappropriate. So I saw you stand up immediately, and then you wouldn't let me go. I guessed that the way was blocked. If it wasn't for that arrow, I would have thought that you probably wanted us to stay on the mountain for another day. Not letting us go forward, because we could go to Taiyi Mountain and go down the mountain. But there was that arrow before, and now there is this Heavenly Wolf. It seems that someone should take this opportunity to get rid of Brother Zirui, and my second sister and I are also in danger."
This is definitely not something that a teenager of this age would think of. I don't know how this kid grew up.
I've heard that Jin'er likes the Second Prince, but the Second Prince keeps avoiding her, which makes Jin'er so angry that she deliberately gets close to the First Prince.
Yes, Jin'er does have a bit of a temper.
"Your Highness, do you like Jin'er?" As the elder brother, and knowing his father's arrangements, he naturally dared to ask directly.
"Uh." The second prince hesitated: "Isn't it inappropriate to talk about this now?"
"Because Jin'er likes you, she only wants to marry you, and father also wants her to marry you." I was quite straightforward and didn't even mind the Second Princess, because I believed in the Second Princess and she would definitely help me keep the secret. I also wanted her to know that I trusted her, especially in such a critical moment. At the same time, I also hoped to make the Second Prince trust me completely.
The second prince looked at the second princess and suddenly asked me to talk to him. I agreed and went into the inner room, asking the princess to leave for a while.
"I am not the biological child of Empress He. The matter of establishing a crown prince has already made Empress He very unhappy. Since then, my grandmother has told me to be loyal to the He family. Since then, I have been taught to be cautious in everything and not to compete with my brothers for the sake of survival. Originally, I was going to be appointed to Chenliu when I was almost ten years old. I thought that I would be safe, but I don't know what happened. I have stayed in the palace until now." The titles used are completely different, and the meanings are frightening: "Brother Zirui, I have always known what kind of person you are. It's just... Alas, I have no choice but to do this. Please forgive me, brother."
I even want to call him "Big Brother" because he is only in his teens, but his cautiousness and inconsistency are comparable to that of an old bureaucrat who has been immersed in officialdom for decades.
"Jin'er is the one Xie loves, but I dare not overstep my bounds. Is everything brother Zirui says true?" The happy and excited expression on the child's face at this time made me feel relieved.
I coaxed him again and finally the adult felt better.
So we first mentioned the question of how to get back today. This time, we opened the door and called in the bewildered girl in the outer room.
I went back to the door and asked what the horse hoof sounds were. They said they heard the horse hoof sounds but could not see them, so they might be in the forest. I asked if anyone had gone, but no one dared to go without the order. I asked again why they had not reported back, and they said they did not know the situation and no one dared to report back.
I gathered all the eunuchs in the garden and the eunuchs I brought with me in front of the two nobles, and selected two people who were about the same height as the second prince and called them in. I also found two palace maids who were about the same height as the second princess. I also ordered the guards of this garden to remove the stones blocking the road. They didn't need too many, just enough for the car to pass.
Then half a minute later, he ordered the coachman he brought with him to drive away, and ordered twenty men dressed as the Imperial City Garrison to escort one carriage with two people, plus some maids, and leave, telling them not to be in a hurry and walk slowly, eat when it is time to eat, serve the two people in the carriage well, and if there is any trouble behind, run quickly; after a while, he heard silence in front, so he asked twenty Yu Lin, a dozen garrison soldiers of the courtyard, and some maids to escort a spare carriage already in the courtyard with two people and leave, and told them not to be in a hurry, but to follow them from a distance, eat when they eat, serve the two people in the carriage well, and if there is any trouble ahead, come back quickly.
I really want them to guess in front of me where the real owner is.
The only reason is that I believe he doesn't have that many people. If they had more people and didn't block us on the road, we wouldn't have to bother with four dead trees. Even if we were trapped in this courtyard, they could have just rushed in without making so many arrangements. And from the Heavenly Wolf, it seems that there must be an insider in this courtyard. So I sent all the old and young women away, and I kept all the eunuchs.
The trigger was the sound of the horse bells that deliberately teased me.
You scare me and don't let me leave, but I will leave anyway. But if you let someone leave, I won't leave.
I believe that the person who plotted against me in this way must know me very well, so when I thought back on everything that happened to me, I made such an arrangement.
I asked them to light a bonfire in the yard, poured some water on the firewood, and covered it with some newly plucked grass. Gradually, brown and black smoke arose and slowly went straight into the sky. This way of making smoke was taught to me by Yinling many years ago.
I decided to look at the matter from their perspective. Since the target was me, this drama would eventually end up happening to me.
I just want to force them out. Walking slowly on the mountain road, it is obvious that their message is not as fast as my beacon fire, and their target is me. I have divided my troops and sent them out, so this place is even more empty.
And since there is another group of Iron Wolf in this courtyard, they should come and take it.
They blocked us in front, so I let the princes go first and I stayed behind. It made sense to explain to His Majesty afterwards.
I was just not paying attention to the way I came and only cared about cutting off the retreat. After all, the way back was safe. They were able to set up an ambush after we left. Obviously, this family was too bold and capable. Your Majesty's shock and anger can be imagined. Then these perpetrators are more troublesome than me. If we investigate them thoroughly, some of them will be in big trouble. After all, the emperor has to offer sacrifices to Mount Taiyi before he leaves.
And although I dared to take risks in the past, in the Battle of Mingzi, I fought to the death and refused to retreat. It is obvious that I am a person who would not sacrifice my own life for the safety of the people. The situation today seems to be the same as it was then, so I ordered people to escort the prince and princess down the mountain, and I stayed in Liyuan. Everyone would think that what I did was normal.
But judging from my performance, the fact that I dared to sacrifice the prince should make them even more suspicious.
So, all I did was to come out and attack my Liyuan if you really wanted to. If you wanted to harm me, I could escape responsibility even if you killed everyone on the mountain road. You would only have a chance to kill me if you broke in. I even stood on the observation tower and easily watched the forest we had just evacuated with the guards next to me. And I did have a lot fewer troops, so I gave you a big chance.
The clouds and mists in front of me seemed to have become happy fairies, brushing past the garden from time to time. At that time, I still didn't realize that I had neglected one thing, which caused this mess to be delayed for a long time.
After an hour or two, I felt something was wrong. It was dusk, and the sky was getting dark neither too early nor too late. But after an hour or two, the way in was unusually quiet, and the way out was quiet and silent. The clouds and fog in the mountains made this place dark and lonely. I asked them to stop the beacon fire and ordered the kitchen to light a fire and cook.
That night I ate with a large group of eunuchs, and we all ate about the same. To make myself feel better, I asked the eunuchs to lean against me. Since the eunuchs from inside and outside the palace lived together, they didn't know each other, and with me in the room, no one talked, especially the eunuchs around me, who basically didn't say anything except eating.
I apologized, saying that the princess and the prince had been sent out, and it was unfair to keep them in danger with me at this critical moment. Except for a few leaders who said that it was the servants' job to see the marquis, and I was condescending to be with them. The others just nodded one after another, with thin and sharp voices. Frankly speaking, only eunuchs can make such a tone for the word "no", unless they are pretending.
I think the first two teams should have reached their destination, and the Second Prince should be safe as well.
The strange thing is that no one has come yet. I have set off the beacon fire, and someone should have seen it.
In addition, these thieves have been so calm and haven't taken any action until now, which makes me feel uneasy. The word lingering in my mind is even more frightening. If everything is not as I expected, then their family is too powerful.
Maybe our presence does hinder them.
Well, yes, our group suddenly rose up and occupied a high position, and I didn't seem to have any good relationship with any of this family. It seemed a bit difficult to ask them to have good will towards me. The poor schoolmaster who had his eyes gouged out in the woods, the kettle in my house that had been tampered with, these murderous intentions were chilling, why did I ignore them all.
It was getting dark and the lights in the garden were turned on as usual. With fewer people on hand, the place seemed much busier. Since I always make things more trouble when I help more, and I am indeed lazy, I found a place I liked and sat down.
I leaned against the pillars of the corridor surrounded by water, watching the mist rising from time to time under the lamp. The fish in the middle might have been frightened by my shadow, and when they were about to enter my shadow, they hesitated, wandered back and forth for a while, and finally swam away. Why didn't I feel scared? I didn't know, maybe the situation was already very urgent.
The weather was a bit stuffy that night, and even the stone bases of the corridor pillars were sweating. It was the first day of March, but there was no moon, and there was no mountain or star in the sky around the courtyard.
Suddenly, I heard a muffled thunder in the sky. I returned to my room with a lot on my mind, and said to myself behind the screen as if there was no one behind me: It might rain tonight.
After a long while, the other side replied: "Yeah." But it seemed that it was not directed at me.
Amidst the thunder, the rain gradually fell with fog, warm and continuous, as if it would never stop.
I ordered someone to lead Hei to the corridor beside me, but did not tie it up, allowing it to walk around freely. This little bastard also knew to take shelter from the rain and made it clear that it did not want to get wet, and seemed to be very honest and stayed beside me.
My years of experience fighting with horses has taught me that a horse is far more sensitive to nearby dangers than its owner. Since I have no way of knowing when these thieves will come, I might as well let my black gun sense the approaching threat.
I suddenly felt that raising a dog should be a good habit. At that time, Yinling didn't want to raise a dog. I suspected that she was afraid of dogs. In fact, I was afraid of dogs at that time, but I was afraid of the big ones. The big ones were much better. At that time, I didn't know which sister's family in the neighborhood had a litter of dogs. They were really cute. I pestered Yinling to get a dog from a sister's family in the neighborhood for me to raise. Although Yinling seemed to think that the dog was cute, she firmly disagreed. I asked for the reason, and Yinling used the reason that the mother and child of the dog were separated from each other. I cried, and I let go of this idea from then on. Later, the dog grew up a little, and this sister's family gave a few of them to several of her good sisters. I went to argue with her on the grounds that the dogs could not be separated from each other. When she came back, her eyes were still red and she was sniffling.
I was only six years old at that time, I can't remember, maybe I have forgotten it along with all my funny past. Of course I forgot, and I hope some people who know me forget, but dreams are mostly in vain, and most of these childish stories inevitably become the subject of Yinling and Pei'er's laughter.
Maybe it's a good thing that I met my wife late. Even if I do, it's better not to be as familiar with her as before. At least I can't talk about everything from when I changed my diapers. I don't know how this girl can remember everything about her when she was four or five years old. I can't remember anything about when I was six years old. I guess I can only let them make up stories about things when I was four or five years old.
I don't know how Yinling slept tonight, whether Yiyue disturbed Pei'er to rest, where are those two groups of people? Why is there no news? How can these thieves be so patient? The longer the time, the better it is for me. What are they thinking
Could it be that their target is not me, but Zi Shi
The darkness was still very quiet, letting the evil wind and rain fall on the steps. The dripping sound of the copper kettle in the corridor told me that it was almost midnight. The mountain wind was getting stronger in the middle of the night, but no suspicious sound could be heard. It only made the lights hanging in the corridor flicker constantly, or one or two were extinguished, and then more were extinguished, and gradually the whole yard gradually became dim.
The house was empty, and some of the windows were blown open, causing the furniture inside to make strange noises, as if someone was walking around in the house.
Hei suddenly raised his neck, which scared me. I was sitting on the ground and jumped up.
After a moment, it drooped its head again as if nothing had happened.
While I felt it was a false alarm, I also felt that in this kind of atmosphere, it was very unkind of Hei to make fun of me like this.
I was just about to express my dissatisfaction with it, but Hei suddenly jumped up and stomped its hooves on the floor below. I tried hard to hold its reins, but it couldn't calm down.
There was a flash in the sky, and I saw dark shadows floating in the nearby houses.
Thunder then sounded, chaotic and muffled.
What followed was the first clear and melodious sound of the third watch drum from the observation tower.
On the third day of the third month of the second year of Chuping, I was alone in the corridor. I was twenty years old that year.