Sun Erniang and his entourage escorted Lang Shilong to the government office in Baishui City, and gathered together with the more than 200 accompanying officers and soldiers who were left behind. At this time, the officers and soldiers guarding there had already buried those of Lang Shilong alive by Min Youhong. All the relatives and entourage dug out and found all the important gifts and documents. Everything was ready. Zhang Qing also found a few fast horses from the government at this time, and the two of them drove the county government carriage together. Then he pulled him to Lang Shilong and said: "It is not suitable to stay here for a long time. We need to leave the city overnight. Sir, you have been tired all night and may not be able to ride on the horse. I have found a carriage for you. You and Miss Chu Ying will make do with it."
"Very good, very good." Ever since Zhang Qing rescued him from the Plum Blossom Alley, Lang Shilong had liked him no matter what. He immediately took Chu Ying's hand and got into the carriage together.
Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang also got on their horses, and with more than 200 cavalry, they immediately escorted Lang Shilong out of the city overnight. At this time, the military morale in Baishui City was already in chaos, and both the magistrate and the county captain died tragically. This was undoubtedly not the case. This sensational event, although it was already late at night, still spread throughout the city at an incredible speed. At this special time, Lang Shilong easily left Baishui City safely with an order from the court, along the Along the official road, we drove all the way into the thick night.
Not long after Lang Shilong and others left, the guards in Baishui City heard a dull yet violent rumbling sound coming along the ground. The officers and soldiers were worried about how to remove the heads of the prefect, captain and others from the ground. The highest tile roof of the city tower was removed. At this time, as the sound of horse hooves like thunder became more and more clear, the attention of the officers and soldiers moved away from here, and they all focused on the area outside the city that was beyond the reach of their eyes. In the darkness of the night, only a few sparks were seen flickering on the mountains in the distance more and more, and finally they seemed to converge into a stream, and more and more torches came towards Baishui City.
The older officers and soldiers looked at the current man and slapped his thigh, shouting: "No, the Green Forest Army is coming across the river to kill."
As soon as these words were spoken, it really stirred up a thousand waves. The officers and soldiers on the city were all panicked when they heard it. The bolder ones stared blankly at those spots of fire coming from all over the sky, while the timid ones His hands had been trembling for a long time and he could not grasp the spear in his hand. But in just a moment, those firelights came close, and there were many swords and guns, filled with murderous intent. The officers and soldiers on the city were suddenly dumbfounded. They looked at those The Green Forest Army, which had a compact and tight formation, was only two hundred steps away from the city. The Green Forest Army suddenly gave a loud shout of "kill" and launched a charge towards Baishui City.
The officers and soldiers were so frightened by the earth-shattering shouts of death that no one was still guarding their posts. They turned around and ran away one by one, swarming towards the city. They abandoned their helmets and armor and ran into the alleys of the city. It looked like this. It was as if he wished he could find a crack in the ground and bury himself.
The officers and soldiers fled in all directions, and the high wall gates were all turned into decorations. It didn't take long for the Green Forest Army's siege cone to break through the gates of Baishui City in one fell swoop.
[The third day·Tokyo Bianliang·Purple Ai Hall]
After the drum beat, it was already the fifth watch. Song Huizong Zhao Jie, who had been awake for half the night, was sitting in the Purple Ai Palace with a heavy and anxious face.
With three faint cracks of the whip, all the civil and military officials stood up in two groups.
When a palace official stood in front and sang loudly as usual: "If you have something to do, leave early to play, if nothing happens, roll up the curtain and leave the court." But before he could say this, the emperor Zhao Jie waved his hand in anger and gave way. The head official of the palace stepped back and said to himself: "My dear lords, how nice of you to have a good night's sleep."
As soon as he said this, he spoke with a kind of warm and angry confidence, causing all the ministers below to lower their faces and secretly glance at each other. They don't know what is wrong with the emperor, or who is unlucky. Those hundred The official didn't know why the emperor was angry, but in addition to the Privy Council Prime Minister, Cai Jing and Gao Qiu, who were among the civil servants, also got the news. Just when the battle report from the front was rushed to Bianliang, Tokyo. Tong Guan, who was in charge of the Privy Council, was the first to come into contact with the news. Just when Zeng Bu, who was in charge of the Privy Council, told the emperor the shocking news overnight, Tong Guan also quietly passed the news to Cai Jing and Cai Jing respectively. In Gao Qiu's house.
Now the emperor is suppressing his anger, and just when the monk Baiguan Zhanger is scratching his head, Cai Jing and Gao Qiu both have a clear understanding of the situation and have the answer in their hearts.
"Just the day before yesterday, Huayuan, Tongguan, Fuping, Sanyuan, Yunyang, Chunhua in Yaozhou, Baishui, Chengcheng, Jiyang, Hancheng, Chaoyi, Fengyi in Tongzhou, overnight, all the people in these places The heads of officials, big and small, were cut off and hung on the top of the city tower. The method was cruel and brutal. At dawn the next day, the flags of the rebel army were planted all over the city. The officers and soldiers looked at the wind and descended. , that thief went straight into the Central Plains and was hard to resist." The emperor saw all the officials with their heads slightly lowered and retreating without even daring to take a breath. The anger in his heart became more and more powerful. He slapped the table and couldn't help but curse. Said: "You all have the salary from the imperial court, but you can't share the slightest sorrow for me. The Green Forest Army has formed a prairie fire, and I am uneasy. But you slept soundly. In addition to shouting long live, each of you thought a little bit. The way to do this is to stand in the way of the others,"
None of the officials below the steps responded.
The emperor became more and more angry. He pointed at the officials and continued to curse: "Is it possible that our Song Dynasty has no one to use?" "Are you giving up all the inheritance of the ancestors of the Song Dynasty to the rebels? What are your intentions? What use do I have to keep you wastes?"
"Your Majesty, calm down," Taiwei Gao Qiu went out to report.
The emperor glanced at Gao Qiu and said: "Captain Gao, don't you have any ideas? Don't be like Xie Qianqiu, who is a traitor to his country and seeking glory."
This was said in a very polite way. Gao Qiu knew that this was all thanks to Cai Jing, so he said kindly: "I would like to tell you, Your Majesty, that I am extremely ignorant, and it is difficult for me to have a plan to stabilize the country. But as far as I know, this is a great plan for me." In the Song Dynasty, there were generals who could suppress chaos and suppress thieves for the emperor."
"Oh," the emperor's face immediately softened after hearing this. He looked at Gao Qiu with attention and asked, "Who is Aiqing talking about?"
Gao Qiu glanced at Cai Jing with a smile and replied: "Your Majesty, you have forgotten that a few days ago, Taishi Cai also recommended a person to the Emperor, that is Lang Shilong, who was stationed in Pucheng and won the first battle."
"Oh..." The emperor pondered for a moment. After Gao Qiu said this, he seriously thought about it and asked quickly: "Where is Lang Shilong?"
Cai Jing had long known that Gao Qiu would use the topic to his advantage. Although Gao Qiu didn't say anything else, Cai Jing had already known it clearly in his heart. At that moment, his heart was filled with hatred and he scolded Gao Qiu for being really cruel, but Cai Jing was not someone to be bullied. Lord, when I heard the emperor's question, before Gao Qiu could answer, he also left and said: "We arrived in the capital at midnight last night. Lang Shilong's journey was not very peaceful. He narrowly escaped death along the way. Thanks to his men, The two warriors fought bloody battles all the way to escape, and when they returned to the capital, they were exhausted of energy and blood. They were supposed to come back today, but now they are bedridden."
When the emperor heard this, his eyes that were still shining with hope just now dimmed suddenly. He knew that he happened to encounter a lightning attack by the Green Forest Army along the way, causing all the cities along the way to fall into the enemy's hands. The emperor sighed slightly and said: "It's not easy to escape,"
"Your Majesty, Lang Shilong..." Just when Gao Qiu was about to add fuel to the fire, Cai Jing saw that Gao Qiu was talking about something wrong, so he immediately interrupted him and said loudly: "Your Majesty is wise, God bless the Song Dynasty, if the Emperor had not given the timely order After transferring Lang Shilong back to Kyoto, Lang Shilong's head is probably hanging high on the gate tower of Pucheng. The emperor cherishes his talent so much, Lang Shilong must be grateful and dedicated to the emperor."
After the emperor heard this, he couldn't help but feel happy, but Gao Qiu, who was standing at the foot of the steps, secretly gritted his teeth. In fact, Gao Qiu knew Lang Shilong's level. He just wanted to take this opportunity to let the emperor send Lang Shilong to face him directly. The Green Forest Army used the Green Forest Army to kill Lang Shilong, thus eliminating one of Cai Jing's minions. Cai Jing's absence of Lang Shilong in the Privy Council was of great benefit to Gao Qiu, but he hated Cai Jing's appearance. Disgusting mouth.
"Cai Aiqing, you convey Zheng's order and call the imperial physician to attend to the matter. Lang Shilong's body must be taken care of properly," the emperor seemed to be guarding the only hope of the Song Dynasty, for fear of something going wrong.
Cai Jing is here.
The emperor seemed to have thought of something at this time and said: "Who are the two generals escorting Lang Shilong?"
Cai Jing reported: "These two people are strange,"
"Oh," the emperor was intrigued by Cai Jing. He became more and more curious and asked, "What a strange method."
"They are not regular generals, they are all top-notch masters hiding among the people," Cai Jing said: "Your Majesty, you also knew before that when Lang Shilong's troops in Pucheng were low, he raised his arms and called out, and the whole city responded, and these two people They were two of the militiamen at that time, and they happened to be a pair of siblings. The elder sister was named Sun Erniang, and the younger brother was named Zhang Qing."
"Master Cai, although he is a legend, he must be reliable. How come he comes from the same family, one is Sun and the other is Zhang," Wang Zhishou, who was in the same party as Gao Qiu, stood up and asked Cai Jingdao at this time.
Cai Jing knew that he was standing up for Gao Qiu, but he did not take such things seriously. He smiled politely and said: "Master Wang is focused on the safety and governance of the country. It seems that human ethics are not the same." I don’t understand it at all. Apart from anything else, it’s perfectly normal for cousins to have the same family name and two surnames.”
Cai Jing's words were so subtle that Wang Zhi was so ashamed that he couldn't say a single sentence.
The emperor didn't care too much about this kind of dialogue. This kind of episode had happened almost all the time during his reign. It's not surprising. The emperor was concerned about the abilities of these two people. Whether Lang Shilong was on the list or not He was so powerful that he immediately said: "Two of them are sent to the palace."
"Here," the eunuch who sent the order responded, walked a few steps to the outside of the palace and shouted loudly: "Common man Sun Erniang, Zhang Qing enters the palace,,,"