"Welcome the bride!" came the shout of the etiquette officer from the outer courtyard.
After hearing this, the bandits who were welcoming the bride also played the suona. Xia Jingyan, Yan Yu, and Lu Chaoya went out, while the other three girls hurriedly hid in the back room.
"The bride enters the sedan chair!"
The three of them looked at each other, and Zhou Ranzhuo in the dark was also ready. The three of them covered their heads and headed to the bridge.
The music at the bottom of the mountain is quite loud, but it gets quieter when we go up the mountain.
Xia Jingyan lifted up a corner of the sedan chair and saw countless strong men looking towards them with squinting eyes, only to be pushed aside by the "ceremony officer".
Yes, the Mountain King really wants to get a wife. He is just looking for a few fresh playthings. When he gets tired of playing with them, why not just throw them to this group of people? They are worse than animals.
There was no auditorium and no wedding ceremony. Xia Jingyan and the three of them were carried directly into a small house in the valley.
The house was in a mess and exuded a stench. There were several wine bottles in the corner. If you look carefully, you will see blood stains on the door and windows of the hut. If you think about it, you will know how many robbed girls have been here.
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The "ceremony officer" locked the wooden house from the outside and told Xia Jingyan and his party with a sly smile: "Wait well for the master!"
As soon as the "ceremony officer" left, Xia Jingyan couldn't help but vomit.
"What the hell is this! Is this a place for people to live in? It's like a pig's nest and stinks like hell!"
Lu Chaoya was also gagging like Xia Jingyan. Although Yan Yu felt a little uncomfortable, she just covered her nose and remained silent.
"Master, let's find a way to contact General Zhao and Mr. Zhou first." Lu Chaoya pinched her nose and said, she was going to vomit if she didn't get out!
"What do we think? We have to wait for Brother Qichen to figure out the way here. Today we can only wait until the bandit leader comes in the evening and look for an opportunity to deal with him. Then Ranzhuo will take us out. The bandits
They are leaderless and will be defeated with one attack."
Xia Jingyan found a relatively clean place to sit down, took out two short knives from his waist and threw them to Lu Chaoya and Yan Yu.
"You have never practiced martial arts. Just stay away tonight and I'll just deal with that person."
"Princess Princess, you gave us the weapon, how should we deal with the bandit?" Yan Yu whispered, holding the short knife in both hands and handing it back to Xia Jingyan, "You should take it."
"Don't worry." Xia Jingyan pushed the knife back, took out a hairpin from his hair crown, and pulled it out gently. Only then did Yan Yu realize that it was a sword with a hairpin in it. When he pulled out the shell, there was a mystery inside.
"Just wait." Xia Jingyan began to close his eyes and rest his mind, and Yan Yu and Lu Chaoya also found a relatively clean place to sit in silence.
Zhou Ranzhuo nested in a tree next to the wooden house, shielded by the leaves from being discovered by the bandits, and waited for Zhao Qiechen to return from exploring the road.
After waiting for a long time, Zhou Ranzhuo felt like yawning. Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder, which scared him awake. When he looked back, sure enough, it was Gu Yun again.
"I was scared to death! I almost fell down!" Zhou Ranzhuo complained softly, "Why are you here?"
"I'll go wherever you go, Your Majesty, what a major discovery!" Gu Yun smiled at first, then became angry.
Zhou Ranzhuo was confused for a while and asked: "What's wrong?"
"Follow me!" Gu Yun dragged Zhou Ranzhuo away across the tree.
At the same time, the "bandit" who had been pretending not to see Zhou Ranzhuo under the tree also broke into the cabin without any care.
After listening to Gu Yun's talk along the way, I found out that the bandits' den had been cleared out, and now only their names were left. Qin Suan led his troops into the bandits' den, pretending to be bandits, and wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of Xia Jingxuan and Xia Jingchen first.
The two of them left Xia Jingsheng isolated and helpless from then on, but unfortunately they failed. They couldn't defeat the Xia family army, so Qin Shuang targeted Zhou Ranzhuo, not intending to kill him but to provoke him.
Qin Shuan, courtesy name Ziqian, was the former prime minister of the Zhou Dynasty and could be regarded as Zhou Ranzhuo's uncle, but he had always disliked Zhou Ranzhuo. After the Yihe clan was exterminated, he pretended to collect the old troops of the Zhou army and worshiped Zhou Ranzhuo as his majesty, but that
It was just an expedient measure, just because Zhou Ranzhuo was an orphan of the Zhou Dynasty, and he used his reputation to hide his ambitions.
Zhou Ranzhuo was fine when he was young, but now that Zhou Ranzhuo is getting more and more mature and gradually getting rid of control, can Qin Suan still tolerate him? In such a dangerous mission as undercover, no one will say anything if something happens in the middle.
"Qin Suan! Get out!" Gu Yun shouted angrily in the bandit hall.
Qin Shuan had expected this result, and he was not afraid. With the help of everyone, he slowly walked out of the back room and said with a slow sneer: "Why is General Gu so angry? Did Qin do something wrong?
?”
"Bold traitor! How dare you attack His Majesty! What crime should be committed! Did you know that if the arrow misses even half an inch, His Majesty's life will be in danger!" Gu Yun shouted.
Zhou Ranzhuo stood aside silently, just waiting to see what dirty tricks Qin Shuan could come up with.
"So the arrow didn't miss the mark? Your Majesty was just unconscious for a few days, wasn't he?" Qin Shuang laughed wildly. If Zhou Ranzhuo hadn't stopped him, Gu Yun would have dared to go up and stab him to death with a sword.
"The arrow is not crooked," Zhou Ranzhuo protected Gu Yun behind him and confronted Qin Suan in a calm tone, "But I still want to ask the teacher, what is the meaning of that arrow?"
It's not that Zhou Ran is cowardly, but there is a circle of people around, all with swords in their hands. It seems that they have practiced kung fu for several years. After all, the number is not advantageous in a real fight. What if Qin Shuan becomes angry and takes action?
, even if Zhou Ranzhuo died, no one would know, and besides, there was Gu Yun behind him, so he couldn't be so indifferent.
"Your Majesty has won the heart of the princess, hasn't he? In front of the public, you and I...
"Ahem!" Zhou Ranzhuo stopped him.
"Hahaha! Your Majesty has grown up and learned to be shy. You are just a woman. When the Zhou Dynasty comes back and your Majesty takes the throne, you will have a harem of hundreds or thousands of people!" Qin Shuan laughed wildly.
Gu Yun turned back and glanced at Zhou Ranzhuo, you and me? After all, we have reached the point where we are now.
Your Majesty, you can't be trapped and unable to get out.
"Knowing that His Majesty is not ruthless, my uncle... will make a decision for you..." Qin Suan walked up to Zhou Ranzhuo and patted him on the shoulder, smiling sinisterly.
"Make a decision for me? What decision should you make for me?" Zhou Ranzheng was still confused, but suddenly woke up. He was gone, and Xia Jingyan would have no one to guard him!
Tune the tiger away from the mountain!
"What do you want to do!" Zhou Ran broke out in a cold sweat.
"The officers and soldiers in the army are all very greedy. These three... are all the most beautiful beauties in the capital."
"Be outrageous! I'll let you decide!" Zhou Ranzhuo pushed Qin Suan fiercely, turned around and was about to rush back, but Qin Suan dragged him back and said in his ear:
"Xia Jingyan, I have left her to your majesty. His majesty is tired of playing with her before abandoning her. But this Lu Chaoya and Yan Yu... the women of Xia Jingxuan and Xia Jingsheng cannot be kept. As for Xia Jingyan, I just cut off her hands and feet and fell into a desperate situation.
People who are young are more likely to rely on the people around them...I am here to help you."
Qin Shuan believed that this man was smart, but he was too reckless, too conceited, too deserving of a beating, and took himself too seriously.
Zhou Ranzhuo always had a bad temper, and he dared to kick Qin Suan in the chest again and again.
Qin Shuan took a few steps back and overpowered the soldiers who came to pick him up. He vomited blood and could not say anything. He could only watch Zhou Ranzhuo and Gu Yun leave.
Little bastard! I should have stabbed you to death with an arrow from the beginning!
Zhao Qichen and his subordinates had almost figured out the terrain and returned to the hut to look for Zhou Ranzhuo. They found that Xia Jingyan and four other people had disappeared, and there was no one in the valley.
"No, I've fallen into a trap! Go back quickly and send a message to the prince as soon as possible. The princess and others are missing!" Zhao Qiechen hurried back while talking to the people around him.
In the main hall, the royal courtiers were all standing in the hall in rich clothes, but their faces were not very good-looking. Emperor Yuan wanted to take charge of the government on a whim. The first thing he did was to suppress the power of the Xia family, and demanded that Xia Jingsheng return the military power to him, life or death. The confrontation lasted for a long time.
Both sides looked unhappy.
Emperor Yuan hated government affairs, was ignorant of worldly affairs, and was greedy for money and lust. He only had a name, no matter how good the government was. What kind of muscle was wrong? If he was in power, he would be pro-government. He had neither power nor ability, so he dared to provoke someone who had been in power for several years.
Regent Xia Jingsheng? The courtiers were talking a lot.
It's not that Xia Jingsheng didn't dare to return his military power. He had basically never used the Tiger Talisman here. The Xia family's army was completely a private soldier of the Xia Palace. It was a privilege given to the Xia family by the late emperor. I understand that Emperor Yuan had nothing to do about it. But if the Tiger Talisman was returned, wouldn't Emperor Yuan be able to do anything about it?
With real power? Wouldn't it be a disaster for the people if they sent troops to plunder people's property?
"Brother Wang, don't give it to him!" Xia Jingchen quietly winked at Xia Jingsheng.
"If you let him go this time, there will be more trouble in the future!" Xia Jingxuan also whispered.
"But this is a time when all the ministers are watching. Above the main hall, if you don't return it, Emperor Yuan will be punished for treason." Xia Jingsheng responded.
"It's the other way around!" Xia Jingchen felt awkward in his heart. He had always had a strong temper since he was a child. Why did the Xia family still have to submit to Emperor Yuan even though they were stronger than Emperor Yuan in every aspect?
"Don't talk nonsense!" Xia Jingsheng stopped him quickly, "My mother's last wish is for us to assist Emperor Yuan. If we don't like him anymore, we can't push him to step down! Besides, it's just a tiger charm. Let's take another step when the time comes."
Xia Jingsheng took out the Tiger Talisman from his waist and handed it forward. Li Qian, the eunuch beside Emperor Yuan, reluctantly walked forward. It was obvious that he did not want Emperor Yuan to rule personally. Everyone in the court respected King Xia.
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Before the Tiger Talisman could be taken over, a long drawn-out sentence came from the outer hall: "Report——"
The waiting guard rushed in quickly, knelt down on one knee and clasped his fists and said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the princess of Anning County, Yu Lingyuan Mountain, is missing!"
Xia Jingsheng's heart was shaken, and the tiger charm in his hand fell down, making a heavy sound.
Something happened to Xia Jingyan. How could the three Xia family members have time to deal with Emperor Yuan? They all ran out without even using courtesy.
Emperor Yuan originally thought about letting Xia Jingsheng suffer a loss, but he didn't expect it to happen. The tiger charm was thrown by Xia Jingsheng. Although it was not damaged, it was also disrespectful to the emperor, and it was Emperor Yuan himself who was slapped in the face.
"Xia Jingsheng! Xia Jingxuan! Xia Jingchen! Come back to me! You rebels!"
Emperor Yuan stood up from the dragon chair, shouting until his voice became hoarse, but Xia Jingsheng didn't even look back.