treacherous world

"Haha~" The fourth son yawned, lying in the military tent with his arms around the stone, pinching the stone's furry ears and looking up, he saw Gongsun standing at the door with his arms folded, wearing a bearskin and staring at Zhao Pu in front of him. The big tent, staring intently, has been looking at it for an hour.

"Daddy, why don't you go and stay with Jiujiu?"

"How can it be, Jiujiu has military affairs." Gongsun turned his head, and then looked, "Little Si, we can't hold Jiujiu back, you know?"

The fourth son pouted, "Jiujiu has always said that the fourth son and dad are his lucky stars, how could he be slowed down."

Gongsun sighed softly, of course it is impossible to explain these things to the fourth son, but this worry is getting stronger and stronger, Gongsun secretly prayed, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, this time it is all up to you.

……

After Bai Yutang found Dead Leaf Butterfly, he had some clues. Zhan Zhao and the others decided to go up the mountain to find Erhu. If it was a cottage in the same mountain area, some clues might come out.

After going up the mountain, Zhan Zhao felt that the two tigers were really doing well, at least the gate of the cottage was quite grand.

For safety, Ziying and Zheying still spied on the cottage, while Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang knocked on the door of the cottage.

The small school announced when they entered the house, and Erhu immediately came out with someone to greet him, and Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were welcomed into the cottage like honored guests.Er Hu ordered a big feast for them, Zhan Zhao hurriedly waved his hands and said that he was full, and wanted to ask Er Hu about something serious.

Er Huping retreated to the left and right, and sat with Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao in the spoils distribution hall.

The servants served tea, and Erhu asked Zhan Zhao, "What's the matter?"

"How many villages are there in this mountainous area?"

"That's too much." Erhu thought for a while, "Let's do a rough calculation, there are about fifteen or sixteen."

"So many?" Zhan Zhao frowned, "Then, do you have a general understanding of the movements of each cottage?"

"Hey." Erhu smiled, "I don't want to say it clearly, but I know something anyway. We need to be vigilant when we are in trouble."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, and Zhan Zhao asked directly, "Then, is there any expert or strange person coming from any cottage around here recently?"

Erhu was slightly taken aback, and rubbed his head, "Experts or strange people... I'll ask you." Then, he asked the master to find a few small bandits who often walked around to investigate.

One of them looked very clever, so he said that he saw that there were indeed weirdos and masters.

Erhu left him alone and asked him to tell Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang in detail.

The little bandit said, "A while ago, it was said that a group of people came from Majiazhai."

Erhu interjected to help explain, "Majiazhai is the largest cottage here, the owner of the village is called Ma Fang, who seems to be from the military, he is quite powerful but has a weird temper.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had never heard of this name before, and they didn't ask in detail, while Zi Ying and Zhe Ying on the roof looked at each other—Ma Fang?Same name? !

"That Majiazhai, who came here?"

"Several men in black wearing cloaks. Because they ride very good horses, some people on the mountain say that Majiazhai has invited some masters. There seems to be an old man with a white beard among them." The little thief continued, "Also, Majiazhai is also very strange these days. It doesn't do business anymore. I don't know why Dazhai is locked up."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang felt that there were a few points that were consistent—it's better to go and have a look.

Because the matter was urgent, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang did not hesitate to ask about the situation, so they hurriedly said goodbye to Erhu and left, making Erhu confused, so why don't you come for a cup of tea?what's going on?

When Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang arrived outside Dazhai, Ziying Zheying followed.

"There's nothing wrong with Erhu's cottage, it looks quite normal." Zi Ying said, looking at Zhe Ying.

Zhe Ying frowned slightly, as if she had something on her mind.

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang saw some clues, and hurriedly asked, "It's urgent, but it's okay to say!"

"If this Ma Fang is really the Ma Fang we know, it may have something to do with him." Ziying said, "There was a traitor in the Zhao family army before, and it was Ma Fang."

"Traitor?!" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both surprised, "Tell me in detail."

"Ma Fang was originally the defender of the Northwest Army. He was very arrogant and aggressive. After the marshal arrived, he didn't obey orders. Later, he led the soldiers and fell into danger. The prince rescued them. , I demoted him and asked him to reflect on himself. Ma Fang felt that he could not hold his head up in front of the soldiers, so he desperately tried to win his breath. Later, he acted blindly and was captured by the Liao soldiers. He finally became a traitor and came back to spy." Zhe Ying said. I was rather disdainful at this point, "In short, he is a repeated villain. In the end, he killed his cronies and took advantage of the chaos to escape. I heard that he escaped and became a bandit. In short, he disappeared for a long time."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned upon hearing this.

"So, Zhao Pu saved his life, does he hate Zhao Pu?" Zhan Zhao was a little puzzled.

"How should I put it?" Zhe Ying shook his head, "I can't say whether he hates the marshal or not, but it is indeed suspicious that this person will suddenly appear."

Ziying folded her arms and nodded, "That's right, those cats and dogs are usually not seen, but they pop up as soon as something happens."

"Er Hu said just now that there are quite a few people in Majiazhai. There must be one or two hundred people, plus dead leaves and other experts." Zhan Zhao made the calculations, "Let's spy first?"

Everyone had no objection, so they went down the mountain and rushed to Majiazhai according to Erhu's guidance.

Before leaving, Bai Yutang stared at the wooden stake that tied the horse for a long time, but he didn't know what he was looking at.

"What's the matter?" Walking down the mountain, Zhan Zhao always felt inexplicably awkward, so he asked Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang was silent for a while, "It always feels too smooth."

Zhan Zhao remained silent, and Bai Yutang expressed his feelings at this time in one sentence—it was indeed too smooth!When they arrive at Majiazhai, will they succeed in finding those kidnapped?

Majiazhai was not difficult to find. Zhan Zhao and others went up the mountain very smoothly, and found that the gate of the village was heavily guarded and there were many checkpoints.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were good at lightness skills, they went around Lulu Mountain and squatted down, and found that there was even a defensive offensive built in the cottage.Zhan Zhao looked a little wanting to laugh, and asked Bai Yutang, "Look at this cottage, it looks like it's about to fight."

"This is a defensive formation that only the army would do." Zi Ying pointed out the way to sneak in to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, and everyone slipped into the cottage.

The village is still heavily guarded, but Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's light kung fu are so good, they both escaped without any danger, and finally arrived near the hall and looked into the hall.

There were indeed people in the hall, a middle-aged man was sitting in the middle and was asking a question, and there were a few juniors kneeling below.Don't look at them not wearing uniform uniforms, but their tone of voice is similar to that of a regular march, and the king sitting on the tiger skin gold chair obviously gave orders as if he was the commander in chief of the three armies.

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows slightly, and asked Zhe Ying, "Is that him?"

Zhe Ying nodded helplessly, "Isn't this Ma Fang, who hasn't changed after so many years, is ambitious and only wants to be the boss."

Everyone looked around, it was a cottage after all, no matter how heavily guarded it was, there was always a place to hide, so they were not in a hurry and waited in secret.

The meeting in the hall ended quickly, Ma Fang sent everyone away, and then went back to the house alone, everything seemed to be in peace.

But one of them caught Zhan Zhao's idea.

That person was similar to a teacher in the cottage, he went out to the backyard.

The reason why Zhan Zhao and the others thought this person was strange was because he was holding something in his hands - the Four Treasures of the Study.

The man was holding the Four Treasures of the Study, and he didn't go towards the study, he walked in, but more like an abandoned woodshed.

Ziying gently tugged at Zhan Zhao's sleeve, "It's like a prison cell!"

"How did you get it?"

"The doors and windows are nailed to the ground. This is how it used to be when marching. The captured prisoners are temporarily detained. This Ma Fang is a military idiot. He only wants to be a marshal and general, and he will fight south and north, so it is very likely that Dazhai will be designed according to the barracks."

So, Zhan Zhao and the others landed on the roof of the firewood house, and without making a sound, they pushed aside some straw, and then lifted the wood chips below.Zhan Zhao waited to look down, Bai Yutang took the piece of wood in his hand, stared at it in a daze...it was so new.

The scene in the room startled everyone. It turned out that several people were tied to a row of wooden stakes, and one of them was a big fat man who was very conspicuous. He was Dabin with his fat body and clothes!

Everyone looked at the other wooden stakes, several of them were tied up in a row, some were dressed in Western Xia costumes and some were dressed in Liao country costumes. These people were all gagged and tied to the stakes, looking nervously at the people who entered the house.

Zhan Zhao raised his head and looked behind him. Bai Yutang was holding a piece of wood in his hand, frowning and looking down.Ziying and Zheying also tilted their heads - logically speaking, finding Dabin and the others means that there is a clue to the case, so they should be happy, but why can't everyone be happy?In addition, the four of them had an idea in their minds—this is too smooth, right?Just found it?

The master put down the four treasures of the study, looked up at the crowd, and smiled, "My lords, whoever writes a letter to me first will let you go."

Several people looked at each other, and the master pulled out the gag cloth ball from Dabin's mouth, "General Dabin, you just write to Zanpu, it was Zhao Pu who kidnapped you."

Dabin opened his mouth, and the people next to him shook their heads vigorously. These people with high positions and weights are not fools. Who knows that if they write like this, they will probably die. The purpose of the other party is to provoke the war between the Western Regions and the Central Plains war.Everyone understood that in a fight, they would suffer the most losses. Who would want to fight Zhao Pu desperately?

"If you don't write it, why don't I write it for you?" The master put down the pen and pulled out a dagger from his waist, "By the way, send Zanpu back one of your ears...or a hand?"

Da Bing was so startled that he yelled, "You... who are you! You are so bold, I... ah!" Before he could finish speaking, the master kicked his fat stomach hard.Da Bing coughed with his chest in his chest, looking very painful, "Ahem..."

Ziying looked at Zheying, as if asking——can you save him?If he breaks Dabin or really chops off something for him, it will probably be troublesome.

For the first time, Zhe Ying felt a little overwhelmed. After so many missions, he had encountered very easy situations, but this time he always felt that something was missing. Could it be that they were too well prepared, so Think it's a bit weird to do it so easily?

Zhan Zhao also hesitated for a moment, pointed to himself and then to the bottom, indicating that he would go in and let the three of them meet outside to avoid any ambush.

Zhe Ying decided to go with Zhan Zhao, and Bai Yutang was worried that Zhan Zhao would go alone, but Zhan Zhao signaled him to stay outside, it would not be safe for the two of them to go together.

Bai Yutang was worried, and grabbed Zhan Zhao's sleeve—think again?

Zhan Zhao patted the back of his hand and winked at him——I have a sense of proportion!

So, Bai Yutang and Ziying stayed outside, and Zhe Ying went into the house with Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao quietly landed behind the master who was walking towards Da Bing with a knife, and knocked him unconscious with his palm.

Da Bing naturally knew him, and excitedly said, "Zhan..."

"Hush!" Zhan Zhao glared at him, went over to untie his rope, and then untied the ropes of several others.At the same time, Zhan Zhao scratched his head a little—these people don't seem to be very good at martial arts, can they escape?

Bai Yutang standing on the roof was also a bit funny, and indeed he didn't need to take strict precautions, as for Dabin, it was impossible to escape without anyone noticing.

Ziying curled her lips and muttered, "That fat man should just be chopped off right there, who can drag him!"

Zhe Ying also sighed.

Zhan Zhao took everyone out, and Ziying and Zheying jumped down. Everyone thought, let's kill them at worst. They also took a general look at the situation of the cottage, and the possibility of breaking out was quite high.

Bai Yutang also wanted to follow, but suddenly... he glanced back.

Apart from the dense forest in the distance, there was nothing special, but from the gust of cold wind blowing over, Bai Yutang inexplicably smelled a dangerous smell, and couldn't help frowning.

"Shh."

Bai Yutang lowered his head, and Zhan Zhao was waving at him, signaling—come down quickly!

Bai Yutang jumped forward, and together with Zhan Zhao, they protected the kidnapped royal family and nobles to break through.

……

And in the thick bush that Bai Yutang looked back at just now, there were two people standing.

"hehe"

A low-pitched sneer sounded, filled with bloodthirsty excitement.

"Don't be so excited, it's not the time yet." The other's voice was shrill, a little eccentric, and it came from a gray-headed old man.His bloody lower eyeliner made a white face half cry and half smile, looking at the cruel man in front of him excitedly licking the corner of his mouth, the old man reminded, "This time is just a pawn, we must let Zhao Pu return to Kaifeng with peace of mind, It's a good start."

"I'm not interested in Zhao Pu or Zhao Pu." The man squatted on the top of a tree, with one hand resting on his knee and the other holding a strange black knife, "The one next to Bai Yutang is Zhan Zhao?"

"Yeah." The white-headed man nodded, "To get rid of Zhao Pu, the two of them are the biggest resistance."

"Hehe." The cruel laughter came again, "It would be fun to chop up Zhan Zhao in front of Bai Yutang."

"You are too confident." The old man shook his head, "With you alone, there is no chance of winning against these two people. You still have to act according to the young master's plan."

"Hmph." The man sneered disdainfully, staring at the knife in his hand and muttering to himself, "Bai Yutang, the one who wins this time must be me!"

Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and two shadow guards protected those people and broke through. They encountered some obstacles along the way, but they were all smoothed out.Finally, they broke out of Dazhai and fled to the middle of the mountain together, only to see the sound of arrows on the mountain, probably because they found that the hostages had escaped.

Everyone quickened their pace to the foot of the mountain, mixed into the busy market of Dafenggu, bought a carriage, and set out on the road.

Until the car drove away from Dafenggu, Zhan Zhao and others still felt a little unreal.

Da Bing and the others cheered for joy when they escaped successfully. Zi Ying and Zhe Ying drove the car, but neither of them said a word.The more I think about it, the more wrong I am!How could it be so smooth?

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang remained silent and followed behind on horseback.

Zhan Zhao looked back, but there was no chasing soldiers, and he observed from both sides, but there was no ambush - did he see a ghost?It is not easy to kidnap these people from their respective territories.There is no reason to hand over a person to a group of idiots so loosely guarded after a lot of trouble, and now they don't come out to chase after losing them. What does it mean?

Bai Yutang rode his horse, trailing behind, turning his head from time to time, not because he was afraid of being chased, but because he was wondering why he didn't come after him?Kidnapping a Da and killed so many people. He knew the mad dog-like temperament of Dead Leaf best, so there was no reason not to show up.

When everyone returned to Chengdu Mansion, they prepared to meet up with the few shadow guards and thousands of Zhao's troops who stayed there, protecting them and going northward to Black Wind City.

Even Qingying and Chiying couldn't figure it out, "It's done so quickly?"

Ziying grabbed Qingying and murmured, Qingying frowned, "It went so smoothly? Could there be fraud?"

After thinking about it, Chi Ying rushed into the carriage, grabbed those royal relatives and yelled at him in pain, and looked at him puzzledly while covering their faces.

"It's strange!" Chi Ying scratched his head, "It's the real body. Could it be that the prince's auspicious star shines? Is it really luck to encounter a crisis that is so easy to resolve?"

Since the person was right, the task was completed. As for whether to catch the murderer, that was a follow-up matter. The most urgent task was to send the person back.

Everyone hurried to the northwest.

A few days later, Gongsun, who was worried in Heifeng City, got the news that Zhan Zhao and the others had rescued all the hostages and had arrived at the gate of the city.

Gongsun was overjoyed for a while, but he was relieved. The fourth son also clapped his hands and asked Gongsun, "Daddy, does it prove that Jiujiu is innocent because everyone has been rescued?"

Gongsun nodded, and carried him out to meet Zhan Zhao and the others.

Xiao Liang also wanted to follow, but he saw that all the generals in the battalion were very happy, but Zhao Pu, who should be the happiest, showed no expression.He folded his arms and leaned against the gate of the military tent, his face seemed puzzled.

"Master." Xiao Liang asked him, "What's wrong?"

Zhao Pu frowned, "How long have they been away?"

Xiao Liang was stunned for a moment, "Well, maybe seven and a half days, Mr. counts every day."

"How long does it take to travel from Chengdu to here?"

Xiao Liangzi patted his head and calculated, "Well... the fastest is seven days."

"In other words, it took them less than half a day to find all those people." Zhao Pu rubbed his chin, "That's too fast, I estimate that based on Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's ability, it takes less than fifteen days." Left and right are just enough."

"That's because Big Brother Zhan and Big Brother Bai are very capable?" Seeing Zhao Pu frowning, Xiao Liang raised his face and smiled, "Or are they lucky?"

Zhao Pu looked down and saw that he also looked worried, reached out and touched his head lightly, "Well, that's right."

Xiao Liang asked again, "Then after we return him, will we be able to return to Kaifeng?"

Zhao Pu nodded lightly.

Xiao Lianghuan joyfully dragged him out, "Then let's finish our business and go back to Kaifeng, shall we?"

Everyone went outside the big tent to check first, and sure enough the hostages were fine, but they saw that Zhao Pu was still a little weak.Gongsun was more careful, and took the pulse of each of them one by one, and found that there was no disease or poisoning, and they were in good condition.

Everyone wanted to see what was going on, but there was really no evidence, so they couldn't just ask for trouble, right?So Zhao Pu simply sent someone to notify the king of the three families to come and pick him up, and made it clear in person.

To say that those three families are interesting enough, they are afraid that Zhao Pu will use some tricks to lure them into the urn, so they dare not come.

Zhao Pu looked up at the sky and took some people back to the three families. Those hostages were quite reliable. Although they didn't know who kidnapped them, they still told the truth. This matter had nothing to do with Zhao Pu. Someone wanted to To provoke.

After the last person finished delivering, Zhao Pu returned to Black Wind City, and the snow stopped, and it felt like the clouds had dispersed for a day, and he successfully passed the crisis.

After being locked up in the border for a few more days, Zhao Pu was waiting for a change in the sky or some kind of big rebellion, but after waiting for a long time, everything was calm.

He felt that something was wrong, and he walked around the yard with his arms folded, followed by the fourth son, who also walked around with his arms folded.Zhao Pu stopped with one foot, and the fourth son bumped into it, rubbing his nose and looking up.

"Little four." Zhao Pu picked him up, "Jiujiu is annoying."

The fourth son also nodded at him, "Yes, the fourth son also found that Jiujiu was irritable."

"Why do you say it is?" Zhao Pu was puzzled, "Is it because I am too anxious?"

The fourth son tilted his head, "That's right!"

Zhao Pu frowned, "Sure enough."

But after a closer look, the fourth son also felt very anxious, "What's wrong with you? Don't you have fun every day?"

"Yeah!" The fourth son nodded seriously, just feeling weird.

"What's so strange?" Zhao Pu found it funny and pinched his nose. "You're only so young, so you're so anxious?"

"Jiujiu is seldom anxious, right?" the fourth son asked him.

Zhao Pu nodded.

"Miaomiao and Baibai are rarely anxious, right?"

Zhao Pu continued to nod.

"Small stomach and little buns are rarely restless, right?"

Zhao Pu nodded, "Yes."

"But everyone is anxious today!" The fourth son looked puzzled, "Why?"

Zhao Pu was slightly taken aback.

The fourth son tugged at Zhao Pu's sleeve, "When are we going back to Kaifeng, Jiujiu?"

"Oh." Zhao Pu agreed, but he was thinking about what the fourth son said just now. Sure enough, did everyone feel something was wrong?I always feel that kidnapping people this time is as unnecessary as taking off your pants and farting.

At this time, someone came in from outside, it was the shadow guard.

"My lord, the imperial decree has come from Kaifeng."

Zhao Pu raised his eyebrows slightly, "Didn't you send someone back to report that you are safe?"

"It's not about the border and the hostages." Ziying lowered her voice, "Recently there was a strange case in Kaifeng, and the emperor asked Mr. Bao to go back, and then..."

"what?"

"The palace was attacked a few days ago, and the emperor was slightly injured."

"What?" Zhao Zhen's eyebrows were all frowned, and he was very surprised, who is so capable.Since Zhao Zhen ascended the throne, there were many assassins in the palace, but none of them could really get close to him, let alone hurt him.

"Have the assassins been caught? How many people?"

Ziying shook her head, "Just one person, he escaped, it is said that he is a master, and killed no less than twenty guards."

Zhao Pu's heart trembled, such a master in the martial arts should be a person with a head and face, right?how come……

"It is said that thanks to the little prince who came forward to rescue him that day, otherwise the emperor might have lost his life." Ziying paused for a moment when she said this, and Zhao Pu asked, "Which little prince?"

"Zhao Cong."

"Oh..." Zhao Pu nodded clearly, and asked again, "Zhao Cong was there?"

"Yeah, he just returned to Kaifeng from his trip to the south, and when he entered the palace with the Eighth Prince to face the saint, he happened to meet an assassin."

Zhao Pu nodded, "Have you notified Mr. Bao?"

"Zhe Ying went to talk."

"Okay." Zhao Pu stood up, "Go back to the palace immediately!" With an order, everyone went to prepare.

After leaving the door and preparing to leave, Zhao Pu discovered that Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were not there. It turned out that Bao Zheng was afraid that the palace would be attacked again, so he asked Zhan Zhao to go back first, and Bai Yutang naturally followed, but Bai Wuye has been sombre these days, He didn't talk much and seemed to be preoccupied, and he couldn't explain clearly when asked.

Zhan Zhao followed him all the way back, feeling a little uneasy in his heart. He always felt that the matter this time was not over, or... just started?

……

At this time, Kaifeng is also a world of ice and snow. This year's winter seems to be particularly stunned, with falling snow covering the crossroads in the courtyard.Sitting alone at the table, there is a chessboard in front of him, and there is no one on the other side, but there is a lot of fighting on the chessboard.

He raised his hand and gently put down a sunspot, surrounded the opponent, watched the enemy on the board struggling to resist, the corner of the man's mouth also revealed a smile, "The corners are all here, our good show should also start It's...hehe."

……

Volume Eight: Nightmare Besieged City