the enlightener says

Qin Ke's heart sank, he didn't speak, but quickly followed Abu out of the temple, and ran down the mountain.

Chapter 727 Confusion

"Gong'er... Gong'er..."

It sounded like a warm call from his mother, Gao Changgong was wearing thin clothes and struggled to get up from the bed, but felt that there was darkness in front of him, and he couldn't see anything.

It must be late at night, he thought.

But that voice is still calling, and it seems to disappear at any moment, making people involuntarily anxious, wanting to get off the bed, to find the source of the voice, to find the familiar but unfamiliar face.

That's right, he hasn't seen that face for many years. If it is said that in this world, besides Mulan, the woman he feels most intimate with is probably the mother who comes from a family with a gentle temperament.

Since he was a child, his mother liked to sit in front of the bed and gently pat him on the back to calm the fussy him, and fell asleep quietly with the cool breeze of the palm fan in the afternoon.

But right now he didn't want to sleep.

Gao Changgong stubbornly wanted to climb down from the bed, but found that his hands and feet were so weak, as if he was not Gao Changgong, the general of Jingwu, but turned back into that thin, messy kid running around all day long. .

"Why don't you sleep? Can't you sleep?" The voice asked with some concern, "Is it too hot? Or is the cicada outside too loud?"

"Mother." Gao Changgong whispered.

Then the sky suddenly brightened, and everything in the room appeared, such as the finely carved windows and the old bronze mirror. From the outside, one could smell a spicy fragrance of green grass, rushing straight to the nostrils, and the summer cicadas chirped tirelessly on the trees. .

But Gao Changgong didn't care about that at all, his eyes stayed on the cheek that was not young and even had many crow's feet at the corners of the eyes, her neat bun showed grace, but the soft clothes looked lazy Leisurely, with a little girl-like innocence.

She still had that loving look, smiling and shaking the cattail fan: "What's the matter? Want to eat cold cakes? You'll have them when you wake up. If you don't sleep, your elder brothers will eat them up. "

Gao Changgong thought of the days when she had a big fight with her father, fled the house desperately, and traveled alone in the world, presumably even so, she would keep a portion for herself every time she made pastries, right?

Later, he grew from a libertine to the current General of Jing and Wu. Many people thought that he was reckless, but who knew how much he owed?

He thought that his mother would live a long life, but only when he got the news did he know that there are not so many happy reunions in this world. He was still on the Great Wall at that time, and he even wanted to stay on the Great Wall, but he came back because of the news that his mother was seriously ill. to Wu.

But in the end he still failed to see his mother for the last time.

"It was my fault, so all these years, I have never dared to quarrel with my father." Gao Changgong lowered his head and said to himself.

"What?" Mother asked softly, as if she didn't hear clearly.

But her face was aging rapidly, her skin became pale, her eyes turned into a deep hole, and finally her body began to disperse like sand and dust.

"It's me..." Gao Changgong raised his head, and was about to say something to his mother, but found that the face in front of him was replaced by a face that had gone through all kinds of weather but was still resolute and heroic. With a bit of hatred.

Mulan.

"Do you remember what you promised me?" This female general in military uniform still spoke forcefully, as sharp as the sword in her hand.

"You said that you would stay on the Great Wall, you would... stay by my side." Mulan looked at Gao Changgong indifferently, and continued, "But you only left a letter and left me with just a few words. did not return."

Gao Changgong didn't know how to answer, because he was sorry for Mulan from the very beginning. At the beginning, he did have such an idea, wanting to stay on the Great Wall forever and stay with Mulan, but the changes in the world made him His wish could not be granted.

"Wanling...he needs a helper, a strong enough helper, and the people of Wu, they also need a stable shelter." Gao Changgong replied in a low voice: "What I told you is not false, but need some time……"

But his voice was interrupted by Mulan's pointed question.

"Time? Do you think I'll really stay where I am and wait for you? Who do you think I am? Your woman? A servant? Or a slave who comes and goes when you call?"

Mulan stood in front of the bed, condescending, a tear was falling down her left eye, but her eyes were so strange, looking at Gao Changgong was like looking at someone she didn't know at all.

"I have the blood of the Mu clan on my body. The responsibility of the ancestors of the past is now on my shoulders. I must get married. As for who is getting married, there are many people in my Mu clan who stand alone. Hero, there will be no shortage of a 'Grand General Jing Wu' like you."

After finishing speaking, Mulan turned around and left. She opened the door to go out, but she seemed to have walked into a bright light, and her back was swallowed in an instant.

"Mulan, wait!" Gao Changgong has never felt such pain in his heart, as if there are tens of thousands of worms constantly burrowing around in his stomach, gnawing at his internal organs. In a hurry, he exhausted all his strength to get out of bed. He jumped up, but it didn't take long before he fell to the ground with a muffled "bang".

He didn't get up for a long time, because he knew that the girl had left.

At this time, a pair of hands supported his arm, as if they were about to help him up, when he looked up, Gao Changgong was startled, and said in a low voice, "Wanling."

It was the old Wanling.

As his best friend in life, Wanling's temperament is completely different from his. Since childhood, he has been a sensible and humble person, and his knowledge is far superior to that of his peers. In the eyes of any elder, he is a talent who can shoulder the rise and fall of a family. .

Therefore, although his eyes are not as agile as his younger brother Wolong's, they contain a kind of insightful light.

"It's really hard for you to support such a big Jingwu." Zhuge Wanling helped Gao Changgong up vigorously, took him all the way back to the bed, and said with a smile: "I know, Wolong has his own ideas. What he wanted, so no matter how much he did for Jingwu, it was just seeking benevolence and gaining benevolence, but you are different, you sacrificed a lot for me and the people of Jingwu."

Gao Changgong was not happy to be praised like this, but rather sadly said: "Don't say that, in terms of sacrifice, I just sacrificed a personal relationship with my son and daughter, what is it? And you, you sacrificed your life for the people of Wu Kingdom. I don’t want them all anymore. If I let you choose again now, do you regret it?”

"Of course not." Zhuge Wanling smiled contentedly, and reached out to pat Gao Changgong's shoulder, "This is the world I want, Jing Wu... this name is very good, Jing Chu Gang and Wu Guo both know each other well." Rong, rebuilt this southern land, the people have enough food and clothing, and no longer suffer from the war. Both you and Wolong have done a good job, even better than I thought."

Gao Changgong rarely showed a frivolous smile: "It's the first time I've heard you praise so much, it seems that this is indeed my dream, although this kind of thing doesn't sound like me, but at least I saw you again, right? "

Facing the familiar face, Gao Changgong stared at it for a long time, and suddenly sighed: "Actually, I still regret that I agreed to your ridiculous request at the beginning. I can stop you, I can..."

Zhuge Wanling sat with a smile on his face and said nothing.

Gao Changgong didn't care about these, but just started talking about some things in these years, such as the difficulty of starting a business, the cruelty of war, and the danger of fighting. Everything, as if it happened yesterday, is vivid in his memory.

But for some reason, Zhuge Wanling suddenly stood up when he heard it, and began to think about going out the door.

Gao Changgong finally had some strength, and hurriedly chased after him, but he was still a step too late, watching Zhuge Wanling disappear into the side of the light.

He wanted to chase it out, but felt that the light had a force of resistance, forcing him to stagger back into the room.

At this moment, everything was quiet, and he seemed to be the only one left in the empty room.

And his thoughts were so chaotic that he didn't even notice the unusual aura remaining in the room.

Chapter 728 The Rich of Kangzhou

The old land of the Sun family, named Kangzhou, is said to have been a desolate beachhead at the beginning of the previous dynasty, with ferocious beasts everywhere and insects and weeds overgrown. Until later, Emperor Jirui issued an edict, and countless people moved here to break through the thorns and open up wasteland. It took several generations to finally turn this barren land into a warm and moist southern beauty.

It was at that time that the Sun family gained a firm foothold. The ancestors of the Sun family went through two generations from an unknown sixth-rank official, and managed Kangzhou in an orderly manner.

Looking far away in Kangzhou, you can see endless green rice fields everywhere, extending from both sides of the river to one end of the valley, birds and dragonflies flying above, and chickens and dogs walking leisurely on the ridges.

On the sparkling water, the common people drove the fishing boats, sang tunes and chants and cast the fishing nets. Countless big fish jumped out of the water while the fishing nets were tightened, plump and attractive.

It is a scene of prosperity and happiness.

When Jing Wu was first established, Zhuge Wanling realized that Kangzhou had been run by the Sun family for many years, and the people had enough food and clothing. Dare to rise up against the government.

Therefore, when the national government took over the ruling power, it gave way to the almost monolithic old home of the Sun family. Self-management and self-government by the Sun family.

But even so, he still failed to guard against the instigation of someone with a heart, which led to today's disaster.

A few days ago, under the name of "the county guard is not benevolent", Sun Tong led his servants to raid the government office, and made the county guard Ting Wuxiao the first to show the public. The whole Kangzhou became Jing Wu's rebels overnight, and the momentum was great. The whole country was shocked.

The wind direction in the court also suddenly became weird. First, officials from the Sun faction wrote letters one after another, slandering Sun Tong as a traitor, in order to prove that they had no second thoughts.

But in fact, many people have already given birth to a bit of a wait-and-see attitude, and even other aristocratic families have begun to communicate frequently, all in order to know whether Sun Tong's matter was inspired by Sun Ji'an, and even began to wonder whether they should stand on the sidelines. On the side of the imperial court, they still stood on the side of the Sun family and raised troops to respond.

In recent years, Zhuge Wanling has indeed forced the gentry to suffer. Starting from the case of destroying dikes and flooding fields, and later the case of privately hiding armor, countless people from gentry factions were decapitated or beheaded. The collar around his neck is getting tighter and tighter, and the contradiction has been silently expanding, and may erupt at any time.

Of course, the most people are still waiting and watching, because anyone with a discerning eye can see the current situation. As long as Gao Changgong is around, it is not easy to rebel. Said that at the forefront of this iron hoof, there is another Jingwu God of War Gao Changgong who is even more shocking.

Kangzhou's private soldiers are untrained, and there are no more than [-] people who can really be useful on the battlefield. Even if they secretly recruit Tang Guo to help, they can only create pressure on the border, and they are far from being able to do any powerful deterrence, so no matter how you look at it It is to strike a stone with an egg.

But the instigator of it was not afraid at this time.

In the old ancestral hall of the Sun family, Sun Tong looked at the flickering candles and said impatiently, "How is the matter going? Why hasn't it been completed yet?"

The entire ancestral hall seemed to be empty, but it was naturally impossible for him to ask the question to those plaques.

Soon, a figure began to appear in the darkness, and as the footsteps moved forward, the outline of this figure gradually appeared in the candlelight.

The man was wearing a black broad robe with a hood, his face was unclear, and his voice was even weirder, as if a piece of thick phlegm was stuck in his throat, or something was in his mouth, hoarse and vague: "You know, even if the seed has germinated, it is still very difficult to completely control him."

"Since that's the case, why didn't you start in Jianye City? Why did you have to wait until here? You said that your envoy has already arrived in Jianye. Now that he is thousands of miles away, won't he be affected?"

Sun Tong looked at the figure with a bit of distrust in his eyes, but at this moment, he had to trust these people, because only those who had really been in contact with them would know what kind of terrifying power these people possessed.

royal family?He has never heard of such a group of people, and it has never been mentioned even in the annals of history, but these people said that they have been living in the dark, like the emperor in the night, existing for tens of thousands of years, and have never disappeared .

Thinking of this, Sun Tong couldn't help feeling a little scared.

"The distance in your eyes is not the key to this matter. Besides, how do you know that the envoy did nothing after he went to Jianye? In fact, he has already done what he should do, but no one has ever known."

The man in black said calmly.

Hearing this, Sun Tong's eyes softened a little.

The man in black continued: "It's just that if it is launched in Jianye, it is simple and direct, and it is closer to Zhuge Wanling, but because the distance is too close, it is easy to be affected by Zhuge Wanling. The big formation in Jianye city is The foundation of Zhuge Wanling, once he senses something strange and makes a move, then there will be no chance of realizing the great cause you are looking forward to."

Sun Tong was silent for a while, knowing that it was difficult to know the real purpose of these people at his level, and it could only be explained by the man in black. He nodded slightly and said, "In this case, I will wait for you for a few more days, but your Is it time for the master to drop a pawn?"

The man in black sneered, and dismissed the question, "How do you know that the chess piece didn't fall?"

Jingwu border, Yanqu Pass.

Since the beginning of spring, there have been some light rains from time to time, although it does not seem to be heavy, it is like falling ox hair.

Although the continuous rain moistens the farmland and raises fish and shrimp, it also makes the land muddy and difficult to move, and even raises thick fog, making it difficult to see from a distance.

"Damn weather, it's raining again." Huang Yao, who was wearing leather armor, had just dismounted when he almost fell in the muddy ground, and couldn't help but raised his head and cursed.

He has been running around outside these days, and it is very hard work, but the rain is endless like a debt collector, there is wet rain everywhere, and even the dead branches that can make a fire are searched all over the mountains and fields. Can't find it.

He can't eat hot meals anymore, and he can only supplement his physical strength with the hard and extremely salty jerky and the drinks in the water bag. The body gets enough energy.

Although these scouts are usually safe, they may die at any time if they encounter danger. They can only deal with it with plenty of energy and a calm mind.

Hearing his scolding, the subordinate at the side couldn't help grinning: "General, this is already the tenth time you scolded the weather today, aren't we all used to it?"

"Fart, when did I say I'm used to it?" Huang Yao glanced at the somewhat broken riding whip in his hand, didn't care too much, stuffed it into his belt indiscriminately, and then began to untie the water bag from the horse.

The jerky was very hard, so it was very hard for Huang Yao to chew, but he still chewed very hard, the spirit in the water bag was swallowed by him along with the finely chewed meat, feeling the heat slowly Slowly rose from the dantian, and finally drilled all the way to the chest, and gradually dispelled the chill on his body.

The leather armor had already been wet by rain and sweat, and it stuck tightly to the body like a piece of dog skin plaster. It was stuffy and hot, and it was very sad, but Huang Yao remained expressionless, and lowered his waist to observe the mud on the ground, and said softly: " Big Liu, look at these traces, it seems that Tang people have increased their manpower again."

Big Liu also noticed this. He looked at the muddy horseshoe prints that were still recognizable, and said with a vigilant expression: "That's right, the number of scouts they sent two days ago was only a team of three, but now they have doubled. It's hard to believe that there is no connection between Sun Tong and Tang people..."

Chapter 729 Night Attack on the Beacon Tower

Huang Yao took a sip of wine, subconsciously clenched the mouth of the water bag, and said in a low voice, "If they really send troops, will they attack there first? Yinchuan? Pei Yu? Or Bating?"

"How do I know this? You are the general, and I'm a bad soldier. It's okay if I kill someone, but let me guess where the Tang people came from? Why don't you ask where we will spend the night today." Big Liu turned He rolled his eyes.

Huang Yao choked suddenly, and then cursed angrily: "Your mother, Big Liu, you deserve to be a soldier for the rest of your life. I told you to read more military books and less pictures of beauties on the street stalls. Tell me about you, even if you If you see a hole in that album, can you have a fart?"

"It's enough for the general to be promising. Don't we ordinary people just point to this point? My mother-in-law and aunt are not around, so I can only watch that for fun." Da Liuzi laughed, not only not sad, but also shamelessly said: " Anyway, as long as you, general, are promoted in the future, our brothers will be able to follow suit, return home with money and go home to hug my mother-in-law, and give birth to a big fat boy, which can be regarded as an explanation to our ancestors."

Huang Yao had nothing to do with Big Liuzi's behavior of not being ashamed but proud. After cursing a few words, he could only take out the map from his pocket and check it carefully.

They have been tracking a scout from the Tang Dynasty for the past few days, but the confrontation between the scouts is so unpredictable that the two sides haven't even met each other after two days of tracking, and they can only guess Tang Jun's movements through sporadic traces.

Because of this, they must continue to go deep, even cross the border, like wolves walking alone, without backup or supplies, only endless distances and dangers that may occur at any time.

"It's too dangerous to chase like this." Huang Yao made such a judgment after pondering, "We haven't seen the marks of our own people for two days. It seems that everyone else has turned around. If we continue to chase, once we are surrounded by Tang people , I can’t run even if I want to.”

After many days of marching, their horses have lost weight, their dry rations have been consumed by more than half, and they are a little tired. Once they encounter the wolf-like Tang army, it will definitely be a crazy chase.

But he was a little unwilling and said: "I have almost found the traces of these Tang dogs, so I have to give up at this time..."

"I remember... a hundred miles ahead, there is a beacon tower of Tang people." Da Liuzi looked at the map and said a message that shocked Huang Yao.

"Beacon? How do you know? There is no picture on this map."

Da Liuzi shook his head, pointed to the map and explained slowly: "The maps in the military have always only marked those things that we are sure of. In addition, we had withdrawn quickly, and many things had no chance to verify. But I did see it. It's just behind a small mountain, although it's very low, but the light of the fire is enough for the surroundings to see, and the message can spread everywhere quickly."

What he said at the beginning naturally meant that when the Tang Kingdom invaded from the south and almost hit Jianye City, there was a great war, and many people abandoned their wives and children to join the army. Da Liuzi was one of them. Counting the time, it was almost eight years.

In eight years, if Liuzi had children, he would have gone to school, but the old soldier never went back, he just said that he would last another year, and that he would have to pay enough money for those brothers who died.

On the one hand, Huang Yao respected the old man's character, on the other hand, he also believed in the old man's full experience, and would discuss with him when encountering problems along the way.

"That is to say, we may not be far from the Tang people?" Huang Yao thought of this possibility, and his heart beat faster inexplicably.

Although the beacon that was recorded by memory may not still exist, but as long as there was a beacon, it must be a good place to stay.

After so many days of rain, the scouts of the Tang State, who were not used to the climate of Jingwu, were probably more uncomfortable than them. At this time, a warm and dry beacon tower was naturally their best foothold.

If you can really catch a few people alive, can you ask more?

In this way, it is also possible to find out what mysteries Tang Guo has been up to lately. They have repeatedly committed crimes, but they are always just probing, making it unclear where they plan to attack.

As far as he knew, Xiang Chu had never used this style of troops. This time, the leader of the troops seemed to have been replaced by another general from the Southern Army, Liu Pei.

For this person, Jing Wu is inevitably a little unfamiliar, because Xiang Chu's brilliance was too bright in the past, causing most people's eyes to focus on this "overlord". Liu Pei was a little contemptuous, but it seemed that Jing Wu was a little passive this time.