Zhu Nao

Half a month later, Yedu.

A young man was wandering anxiously outside the General's Mansion.He was a messenger who came to deliver a letter to Tao Bei.

Not long after, a soldier of Tao Bei came out of the mansion and sent a message to the messenger: "I have notified you, you go in, the general is waiting for you inside."

The messenger looked very anxious, but he hesitated to step over the threshold after hearing this.The soldier wondered, "What's wrong with you?"

The messenger was sweating for some reason.He hesitated to speak, wiped his sweat, and finally mustered up the courage to step over the threshold and walk inside.

Seeing his reaction in his eyes, the personal soldier couldn't help frowning.It seems that what this messenger brought today is not good news...

It should be noted that if such messengers report good news, they themselves will be very happy, because when they report good news, they will also be rewarded by the lord; anger.

The soldier didn't know what news the messenger brought in, he only knew that this person was sent by Puzhou Mu.He couldn't help but speculate in his heart: Puzhou has always been peaceful, so what bad news could there be?Oh, by the way, right now the little emperor seems to be paying homage to the Buddha at the Dajue Temple in Puyang County, Puzhou.Could it have something to do with the little emperor?Is the emperor sick?

While guessing wildly, the guards walked in with the messenger, and soon came to the backyard.He stopped and said, "Go in, the general is inside."

During the time of walking these dozens of steps, the messenger broke out in sweat again.He wiped his face with his sleeve a few times, took a few deep breaths, and walked inside without tears.

Tao Bei was discussing national policy with his staff today, and heard that Puzhou pastoral messengers came to report something urgent.He was worried that he would have something to do with the little emperor, so he hurriedly left his staff behind to meet the messenger.

After waiting in the yard for a while, he saw the messenger come in.

The messenger stepped forward, trembling, and wanted to salute Tao Bei, Tao Bei waved his hand and said, "Excuse me. The Puzhou pastor sent you here, what do you want to report?"

The messenger clearly heard the word "free ceremony", but still knelt down on the ground with a "plop".

Tao Bei frowned, looked the messenger up and down, and found that the messenger's face was ugly and he was trembling all over.His heart skipped a beat, feeling bad, and quickly stepped forward to grab the messenger's arm: "What's the matter? Is it related to His Majesty?" Although Zhu Xin was not in power, the little emperor was the face of Liang Guo, and Tao Bei would never want to see him in an accident.

The messenger murmured and did not dare to open his mouth. The less he spoke, the more anxious Tao Bei became: "Is the emperor sick? Is the sacrifice not going well? Or something happened to the grand master? Tell me quickly!"

The messenger was forced to cry by him, and finally stammered: "General, General...Emperor, Emperor, His Majesty, he is gone..."

"What?!" Tao Bei was stunned.He asked incredulously, "What do you mean missing?"

The messenger said with tears in his voice: "Your Majesty, after staying in Dajue Temple for half a month, it was time to leave Dajue Temple and go to Nanyang Bodhi Temple. Puzhou Mu prepared his chariot and horses and picked up people outside Dajue Temple, but he waited for a long time. People came out. When the state shepherd sent people in to look for him, he found that the emperor had disappeared..."

The more Tao Bei listened, the more anxious he became, and the more he listened, the more inexplicable he became. He scolded fiercely, "What do you mean missing? Tell me clearly from the beginning! Where did you go when you disappeared? Where is the grand master?!"

If the messenger could tell where the little emperor had gone, then it wouldn't be called missing.In fact, it is not to blame for the messenger's unclear speech. It is really a matter of great importance. From the local officials in Puzhou, to the accompanying people, and then to the messenger sent back to report the letter, everyone was frightened by this huge event. Senseless.

A few days ago, on the day when the little emperor was supposed to leave Puzhou for Nanyang, people discovered that the little emperor and the grand master didn't get up early in the morning to worship Buddha and chant sutras as usual.These two people are very powerful, and all the accompanying soldiers and horses are only responsible for protecting them, not monitoring them.So people didn't pay much attention to it at the time, just thought they overslept.After waiting for too long, people realized that something was wrong when they entered the house to invite people, only to find that the house was empty!

Both the emperor and the grand master disappeared, and the officials in Puyang were dumbfounded on the spot!They hurriedly searched for people all over the temple.He couldn't find him alive or dead, so he quickly arrested all the monks in the temple and interrogated them one by one.After asking for a long time, I finally asked a monk who admitted that he had received a lot of money from the grand master Zhang Ling the day before, and secretly obtained two monk uniforms for Zhang Ling and the little emperor.

The officials went to interrogate the guards of the temple last night, only to learn that two monks really left the temple last night and never came back!In other words, Zhang Ling took the little emperor, disguised as two monks, and ran away!

The emperor and grand master came to pay homage to the Buddha. Before entering the temple, Zhang Ling urged all officers and soldiers to respect the monks in Dajue Temple and never disturb the monks' daily practice and life.Therefore, these officers and soldiers only checked those who entered the temple, but did not strictly check those who left the temple.They did have some omissions in their affairs, but even if they were killed, they would never have imagined that the majestic king of a country and the grand master of a country would run away on their own initiative! !

After repeated cross-examination by Tao Bei, the messenger finally explained what happened.Tao Bei still felt unbelievable: "The grand master ran away with His Majesty? Where did he go? Haven't you come back yet?"

The messenger wanted to cry more and more.Tao Bei apparently still didn't believe that the two would disappear, and repeatedly questioned him where the two had gone.Tao Bei seemed to think that Zhang Ling just sneaked out to play with the little emperor and would come back soon—at first, the officials in Puyang thought so too, so they didn't report it immediately.They didn't send messengers to Yedu until the matter could no longer be concealed.

"General," the messenger said tremblingly, "that Grand Master Zhang, he, I'm afraid, I'm afraid his origin is unknown..."

Tao Bei was taken aback.Before appointing Zhang Ling, he also checked Zhang Ling's details, but in the troubled times, there are too many displaced people, and it is difficult to verify their background.So he didn't get too entangled in his background, and only boldly used Zhang Ling after confirming that Zhang Ling was definitely not an eyeliner planted by other forces.But now, the messenger's words made him feel an inexplicable sense of panic.

He paused every word: "What do you mean by unknown origin?"

The messenger said: "Puyang, Puyang has several people who have joined the Xuantian Sect to identify him, the grand master, he is probably the Xuantian Sect... Xuantian Sect's master Zhang Xuan..."

After Henry Zhang founded the Xuantian Church, he opened the altar many times, and many devout believers have seen him.Later, when he arrived in Yedu, he changed his appearance and lived in seclusion, and was never recognized by anyone.And Puyang was once an important town that was poisoned by the Xuantian Sect. This time Henry Zhang took the little emperor to observe the people's sentiments, and was recognized by some former believers.

Tao Bei only felt a "bang" sound in his head, as if someone had knocked his head hard like a gong, which made him dizzy.

He still felt that this matter was extremely absurd, so absurd that this was a story that even a three-year-old child would not believe.Who on earth made up such a story to fool him? ...But who would joke with him about such a thing...

He seemed to be torn into two halves, one half pulled away calmly, he didn't believe a single word of what the messenger said; the other half was terrified by anger, because, whether he believed it or not, all of this was probably true...

"Come... come!" he yelled.

Several soldiers rushed forward immediately: "General, my subordinates are here."

Tao Bei calmly ordered: "Go to Puyang immediately to find out about the disappearance of His Majesty and the Grand Master! ... In addition, order Shangguan Xian to send someone to find His Majesty's whereabouts immediately, and make sure to find His Majesty! The sooner you The better!"

As soon as this remark came out, the soldiers did not move, and they all froze in place.

Tao Bei frowned and said, "Why don't you move? Didn't you understand?"

The soldiers looked at each other.After a moment of stalemate, a soldier finally said like a mosquito: "General... General Shangguan is not in Henan anymore..."

Tao Bei was stunned.His calm outer shell seemed to be shattered by something in an instant, and the expression revealed after the outer shell was removed was indescribable.

He was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Order Tian Chou, let him take care of the war. Tell him to find His Majesty's whereabouts first."

"Yes!"

Puyang was not far from Henan, and Tao Bei really couldn't care less about the war situation in Henan now. He knew that if it wasn't for Tian Chou's hard support, the war would have ended long ago.The immediate priority is that they must immediately find the little emperor and confirm Zhang Ling's identity immediately.

If everything is as the messenger said, if this matter spreads, then let alone Tao Bei, and Liang Guo, it will become a complete joke...

"This matter must be done in secret, and no one should know about it!" Tao Bei exhorted viciously.

His awe-inspiring eyes glanced at the messenger, who was shocked and said quickly: "Don't worry, General, Puzhou Mu has already suppressed the news, and didn't, didn't let the news spread..."

Seeing his flickering expression, Tao Bei was startled again.There are so many people inside and outside the temple who know about such a big event, with the ability of Puzhou officials, can they really suppress the news?He wished he could fly to Puzhou immediately to find out the truth and clean up the situation himself, but now he has no skills at all.

The soldiers received the order and hurried to deliver the order. After the messenger finished reporting the news, Tao Bei didn't dare to let him go, and ordered him to temporarily put him under house arrest.

At this moment, Tao Bei knew that he should hurry up to call his staff to discuss countermeasures, but he turned around and went back to the room, closed the door, and locked himself in the room alone.

He kept walking back and forth in the room, fear creeping over him belatedly.

Fake...all fake...how is it possible!

But...but...how could this be!

Sometimes he seemed to be immersed in ice water, and his whole body felt cold; sometimes he seemed to be roasted on a fire, and he was extremely hot.And right now his only life-saving straw is Tian Chou.

He doesn't trust the officials in Puyang, the only one he can trust, the only one who can relieve his worries is Tian Chou.Tian Chou is so reliable, Tian Chou is so capable, Tian Chou will be able to find Zhu Xin for him, suppress the news, and save him from the fire!

Tian Chou...Tian Chou...he kept silently reciting the names of his confidants, and finally gradually calmed down.

After an unknown amount of time, there was a knock on the door.

"Who?!"

People outside reported: "General, an envoy from the army is here to ask for an audience."

Tao Bei was slightly taken aback, and said, "Let him in."

Not long after, an envoy was brought into the house.

When Tao Bei saw that person, he couldn't help being stunned—this person was not an ordinary messenger, but the supervisor he sent to Tian Chou's army.Unless there are special circumstances, the supervisor should never leave the army.

——And, this is the second trembling messenger he has seen today.

The overseer's eyes were red, and he knelt down in front of Tao Bei with a plop, and said sadly, "General...Tian Chou, he defected to the enemy! He betrayed the general!"

Tao Bei sat on the chair blankly, without any reaction.

There were too many ridiculous things, and they happened too fast, his shock and anger seemed to have been overdrawn, and he couldn't find any emotions that he should have.

After an unknown amount of time, he laughed softly.There was a clear smile on his face, but Dou Da's tears rolled down the smiling face...