The sun shines on the roofs, on the streets, on people's faces and bodies.
But whoever takes a look, it is not difficult to find that the atmosphere in the entire Youjing City is particularly dull and depressing.
The vendors selling candied haws on a stick no longer shouted loudly, the shopkeepers and waiters in the canteens and restaurants lost a lot of enthusiasm and enthusiasm, the people on the street were less interested in wandering around and had a clear purpose of purchasing, and in the Fengyan Building, you could not even hear the girls singing and humming tunes.
Children playing in groups also died down and went back to their homes under the eyes or scoldings of their elders.
Regarding the border war, people have heard more about it than experienced it personally. It is difficult to feel the tension of the turbulent home and country. Except for some people who are worried about national affairs who will get drunk and complain, most people will not break the daily rules for this.
The rhythm of life day after day, everything is the same as usual.
However, with regard to the recent turmoil in the imperial city, it was difficult for the people living at the emperor's feet to ignore matters that did not concern themselves, and even regarded the things happening around them as conversation topics after dinner.
On the contrary, despite three successive appeasement orders from the imperial court, he remained silent and trembling with fear. He did not dare to go out on the streets at will, and did not dare to speak loudly outside for fear of causing inexplicable death due to some small actions.
Not all residents of Youjing City have experienced the foreign war twenty years ago, but in the past four or five days, they have all experienced without exception what it means to have a large army borrowing a road and galloping chariots and horses.
The news circulating in the market is generally that the fighting and fighting between the various factions in those days was so chaotic that no one can explain it clearly. It can only be restored at a later date when historians summon dozens of key parties and spend ten days and a half.
Basically passed.
We can only know that the final winner is still His Majesty.
We also know that Youjing City has a permanent population of 350,000. During those four or five days of turmoil, nearly 100,000 soldiers fought in and out of the imperial city. In the end, 20,000 people were killed and more than half were injured.
It is said that it took three days to clean up the blood spilled in the Imperial City, and a faint smell of blood can still be smelled near the Imperial City.
It has been at least two hundred years since the last time such a large-scale bloodshed in the imperial city occurred.
The strange heavy rain in those three days after the Mid-Autumn Festival seemed to be a sign, but it all happened too suddenly and unexpectedly.
The residents of Youjing City were completely unprepared for this, and all of them, men, women, old and young, were greatly shocked.
Even after the incident, each household received two taels of silver appeasement money distributed by the court, and was told that the traitor who caused trouble to the court had been eliminated, Emperor Yan resumed the government, and everyone did not need to worry about the chaos in Youjing or their lives, the people still had no fear for the moment.
Be able to escape from those breathtaking sounds and scenes.
Even the inn that just opened today does not have lights and gongs.
It was no surprise that not a single customer came to the door for an hour.
…
…
The newly opened inn is located on the food street.
After a chaotic battle in the palace, Hua Taixiang, the mainstay of Huajian's drunkenness, died, and Yu Tian, the backer behind him, disappeared.
Although Hua Taixiang also considered what happened after his death, he made some arrangements in advance.
But obviously not everyone can bear this heavy burden.
The "imperial city on earth" in Youjing City fell apart in just a few days and ceased to exist.
The four streets of good wine, beauty, delicious food, and wealth, most of the restaurants, inns, restaurants, Fengyan Towers, gambling houses, etc. are all empty.
Some of Huajianzui's original subordinates broke into the palace to join the battle and died, were injured, or escaped. Some of them broke up with Huajianzui and went their separate ways, and some turned against Huajianzui and inflicted heavy losses on Huajianzui.
He played an important role in the Hundred Flowers Conference and was still prospering after the Hundred Flowers Conference. The number of gang members in Huajianzui, which had almost reached 2,000, was reduced to only a hundred people in less than ten days, and less than 30% of the foundation was saved.
After the fighting and fighting, half of the property became ownerless and was returned to the imperial court for unified disposal.
If you can occupy such a three-inch space in the former "Emperor of the World" at this time, when the vitality and popularity of the capital recover, even if you can't make a lot of money, at least you won't have to worry about food and clothing.
It's just that at this time, most people are still immersed in nervousness and fear, and they can't even think about the future.
Therefore, this newly opened inn in the "ruins" of the "Imperial City on Earth" is particularly eye-catching.
But since there were only a few people coming and going, it was just empty talk to attract attention.
Fortunately, the owner of the inn doesn't seem to care much about this. From the shopkeeper to the waiters, they all chat when they are busy and have nothing to do. The atmosphere is much better than that outside the inn.
Just at this moment, a customer seemed to come to the door.
The person who came had thick eyebrows and narrow eyes, his face was shiny, he was carrying a suitcase on his back, and he was holding a gold cigarette stick. He looked like a big customer who was not short of money.
He is a bit too short in height and a bit fat in stature. He is a fat dwarf.
The fat dwarf stood at the foot of the inn's steps, looking around from outside to inside and back again.
The layout is familiar, the people are familiar, and the name of the inn is also written on the inn plaque.
——Hongchen Inn.
Others may not know that this is the second branch of Hongchen Inn in Zhongzhou, but the fat dwarf knows it all.
Because the first Hongchen Inn opened in a small town in southern Jizhou was run by the fat dwarf.
It was also the fat dwarf who ordered the first Hongchen Inn branch to be opened in Guizhou.
The fat dwarf is Ning Xiaoyao, the top boss of Hongchen Inn.
Opening the Hongchen Inn to Youjing will make money in the future, but the primary function is to contact the imperial court for convenience.
When Ning Xiaoyao stepped into the store, the shopkeeper and the waiters who were not busy came to greet him.
Some ran to make tea, some ran to serve snacks, and the rest gathered around the big shopkeeper to greet everyone.
A waiter said: "Sir, please rest first while I go upstairs to call all the brothers down."
Ning Xiaoyao shook the golden cigarette pole and said: "We are all brothers. There is no need to be polite. They have been exhausted the past few days. Let them have a good rest and heal the injured ones first. I will sit here for a while.
Then leave."
The three waiters should be well taken care of, and the two waiters would like to express their gratitude to the shopkeeper for his consideration and concern for his injured colleague.
Yue Xilou, the young shopkeeper who served as Youjing's branch, said goodbye to Zhongpin and asked: "The big shopkeeper has just come out of the palace. If he doesn't rest here for a few days, where are he going?"
Ning Xiaoyao took a long drag on his cigarette, raised his head and blew out thick smoke into the air, and slowly spoke.
"The chaos in Beijing has just been settled. There are still many places where we need people. Most of the brothers can't leave yet. You are more clever in Xilou. You and I can feel at ease sitting here.
"The border war is tense, and the barbarians also have Jianghu people as vanguard scouts. This is something that the imperial army cannot handle.
"With the fifth general and the Northern Alliance in the north, there shouldn't be any big problems.
"It is said that General Shi's old troops are holding up the southwest side, which can hold on for a while.
"General Cheng is also guarding the south, and Luo Yue, who only dares to make small fuss, is not a threat.
"The main problem is still in the southeast.
"That boy followed us to Fujian, and he knew that it was completely a big hole.
"Although the old man and Nangong Yan's feathers have arrived in Fujian, and General Niu, who has just received the Tiger Talisman, will also mobilize troops from all over the country to march to Fujian, and Gusu will do the backup work, but after all, he still can't let go.
"Xinhun, Sushou, and I will bring a few brothers to support us. Remembering that the Youjing branch is opening today, we came here to take a look and set off immediately."
After Luo Bao walked into the palace and put on the dragon robe, everyone in Hongchen Inn realized that Emperor Yan had been living with them for a long time.
The group of people in Hongchen Inn suddenly transformed into the "ministers supporting the dragon" that were often seen and heard in scripted dramas.
In order to avoid unwarranted trouble, everyone no longer refers to the Holy Spirit explicitly in their speech, but uses the pseudonym Carrot or That Boy instead.
When Luo Bao's identity was revealed, everyone thought that Ning Xiaoyao, the shopkeeper, or Gu Xinhun, the butler, had some identity as an important official of the imperial court. Later, they learned from Ning Xiaoyao the origin of the Dark Palace and the reason for the birth of Hongchen Inn.
Ning Xiaoyao is one of the members of the Dark Hall trained by Emperor Jing to protect Zhongzhou.
Now, keeping the royal bloodline can be regarded as repaying all the kindness to Emperor Jing. He did not consider serving the royal family. Whether the owner of Hongchen Inn wants to sell his skills to the emperor's family is entirely voluntary.
The Hongchen Inn has completed its historical mission. The people in the gang may not necessarily be rich and wealthy in the future, but as long as Zhongzhou survives, they can ensure that they have enough food and clothing.
As for protecting Zhongzhou, this is his own business. It is a promise that he must fulfill and be loyal to Zhongzhou.
He had no intention of taking his brothers with him to shed blood. He had originally planned to leave without saying goodbye.
Unexpectedly, Gu Xinhun was exposed by several people in private.
Gu Xinhun and Su Shou said they would go to Jinzhou City to meet a friend and then meet up in Fujian.
The two also said that he, the boss, had brought them together in the first place, but if he wanted to quit now, he had to say hello, otherwise he would not be loyal enough.
He just came and left this time.
However, when the words came to his lips, he still said half of them and left half of them.
How to explain it in the future should be left to Gu Xinhun and the others to worry about. He can't take care of it and doesn't want to take care of it.
Yue Xilou couldn't find any words to persuade him to stay, so he could only prepare more snacks and drinks for the big shopkeeper to eat on the way.
As everyone watched, the big shopkeeper Xiaoyao waved and left.
…
…
Qin land.
In the deserted mountains and wilderness.
Yu Le and Zuo Feng emerged from a mound, their chests heaving violently and they gasped for breath.
Thinking that Guy had temporarily avoided being chased, he couldn't help but feel happy secretly.
The two of them were originally wearing luxurious clothes, but now they looked gray and shabby, with no trace of nobility at all.
Upon closer inspection, both of them were still injured. From their faces to their bodies to their feet, they each had at least a dozen wounds of varying sizes.
Zuo Feng's left hand was completely severed!
Of course, the injuries on the two of them were not limited to these, and there were also injuries that were not visible on the outside.
But whether they were internal injuries or external injuries, all serious injuries were caused in the chaotic battle in Miyagi a few days ago.
If not for this, they would not be trapped in the shallows by dragons and teased by shrimps, or bullied by dogs by tigers.
There were forty or fifty people who fled the imperial city and Youjing together with the two of them.
However, in the past three days, they had been chased and intercepted five times, and there were less than twenty people left.
Half an hour ago, under the enemy's pursuit, they were forced to disperse from others and escaped in the mound.
None of their opponents are strangers.
Most of them were from small and medium-sized gangs in the Jiuzhou League.
There are also a small number of members of the small and medium-sized gangs of the old Four Seas Alliance who were "absorbed" into Zangfeng Pavilion.
The success of the king and the defeat of the bandits were all predictable when they were defeated from the imperial city.
Fortunately they are all alive now.
There is hope as long as there is life.
A comeback, the hope of a comeback.
A cold wind blew from the east.
Dust flew up and hit their faces.
Even though both of them had some scars on their faces, they could no longer feel any pain due to numbness.
But when the two of them saw the east wind carrying two figures, their faces froze and their hearts sank to the bottom.
The two figures are black and white.
The man in black clothes has silver hair and a warm smile on his lips.
The man in white is holding a sword, slightly behind the man in black, with an expressionless face.
These two people are Xiao Yincai and Yun Xiaobai from Yinsha Sect.
The moment they saw Xiao Yincai, Yu Le and Zuo Feng all thought that the recent encounters were probably due to the person in front of them. But if the other person did not come to take their lives, should they greet him with a smile?
Although life or death depends entirely on other people's faces, the arrogant Yu Le really can't force himself to show a flattering smile at this time. He just bites the bullet and says coldly: "Thank you, Master Xiao, for your visit these days."
Take care of me, and if you have the chance, Yu will definitely pay back double the amount."
"I think there will be a chance." Xiao Yincai did not deny it, his eyes stayed in front of Yu Le's forehead, and asked with a smile, "I remember that Mr. Yu only had a vertical scar on his forehead. When did he get another horizontal scar? One vertical and one horizontal.
Making a 'cross' is quite interesting."
Before he finished speaking, Yu Le's face turned red and distorted.
This is the scar left by him being repulsed by Gu Xinhun's three swords during the battle in the imperial court that day.
The war situation was chaotic at that time, and he took advantage of Gu Xinhun's unpreparedness to secretly make a secret move.
Unexpectedly, the opponent was unprepared and used only two moves to neutralize his attack, and the remaining one hit him and knocked him back.
Gu Xinhun did not pursue the victory because in the eyes of the other party, he was not the most important opponent.
This is an insult to Yu Le!
But his frenzied counterattack still failed to get even close to Gu Xinhun, as other Hongchen Inn gang members had already blocked him.
Now that Xiao Yincai is exposing the scars again, it is undoubtedly another humiliation.
How could he not be angry?
He is determined to fight to the death at all costs!
When Zuo Feng saw that something was not going well, he spoke first and asked: "Master Xiao, tell me what you want to say, and we will be spared our lives!"
Xiao Yincai chuckled and said, "I followed you two here specifically because I just wanted to ask you a few questions."
Neither Zuo Feng nor Yu Le responded, only waiting for Xiao Yin to continue.
Xiao Yincai first asked Zuo Feng: "Is Zangfeng Pavilion willing?"
Zuo Feng swallowed the sand in his mouth that he had not spit out just now, and said in a deep voice: "So what if you don't want to give in?"
Xiao Yincai then looked at Yu Le and said, "Actually, if you had patiently waited for the opportunity that day and thrust a sword into Emperor Yan's heart, the situation would have been completely different now, and the Yu family would not have cut ties with you."
Yu Le couldn't help but think about the scene that day, and asked with twitching face: "What's the point of talking about this now?"
Xiao Yincai said: "I know that the nine of you always do things with one hand and two hands, and never put all your eggs in one basket."
Yu Le said: "What then?"
Xiao Yincai said: "Then, even if the Yu family tells the world to sever ties with you Yu Le, it will not be true. As long as you can overthrow the current imperial court, not only the position of the head of the Yu family will be yours..."
Yu Le was not impressed by the pie painted by Xiao Yincai, and said calmly: "It's daytime now, and I never dream during the day."
However, Xiao Yincai did not lose his patience and said in a persuasive manner: "Zangfeng Pavilion and you both want to achieve our goals and seek skin from tigers, so what's the harm in cooperating with me?"
Zuo Feng said impatiently: "You want to use us to deal with the Zhongzhou Jianghu people who help the imperial court resist foreign barbarians, let the war spread, and overthrow the Zhu family?"
Xiao Yincai said: "Not bad."
Yu Le said: "You are a lunatic. You are driving us crazy like this. Even if the Zhu family is wiped out, who will recognize our status?"
Xiao Yincai said: "Do you know why the killer Ye Xiao still has a bad reputation up to now?"
When Yu Le heard this, he said: "You are a shady rat."
Xiao Yincai said: "That's right, we don't have to do things openly, as long as the final result is good, there are at least five hundred experts in Zangfeng Pavilion. Instead of hiding from disaster with our tail between our legs, it is better to change our skin and change our job.
Law?"
Seeing that the two of them were wavering, Xiao Yincai gave them sufficient time to think about it.
After a long while, although Zuo Feng and Yu Le did not speak, they seemed to have made a decision in their hearts.
They glanced at each other, then looked at Xiao Yincai, asking how to cooperate with the Yinsha Sect?
Xiao Yincai smiled again at this time.
Seeing this smile, Zuo Feng and Yu Le already had a bad feeling in their hearts.
I only heard Xiao Yincai say: "Test two people first, Northeast, True North, Northwest, Southwest, True South, Southeast, six places. Where do you think the defense line in Zhongzhou is the strongest and where is the weakest?"
Zuo Feng sneered and said: "Of course the southeast is the weakest, and the true north is the strongest."
Xiao Yincai said: "Then where should we start?"
This time it was Yu Le who answered: "True north."
Xiao Yincai asked: "Why?"
Yu Le said: "We also heard on the road that after Chu Hanxiong escaped from Youjing, he had led half of the Tiansha Twelve Sects to defect to Wala. If he went there, he would have to sign a certificate of surrender and conquer the most difficult to conquer the Bei League.
Even if you and Chu Hanxiong don't deal with each other, as long as it can cause chaos in Zhongzhou, you will do whatever it takes. If the strongest line of defense in Zhongzhou is broken up, other places will be in trouble."
Xiao Yincai clapped his hands and praised: "As expected of Mr. Yu, what he said is exactly what Xiao wants."
Yu Le hummed: "Then, Master Xiao will ensure that our journey back to Zangfeng Pavilion is smooth sailing."
Xiao Yincai said: "Of course, Mr. Yu's fellow disciples will not lose a hair, but..."
Yu Le knew that the most important part was coming, and immediately asked: "But what?"
Xiao Yincai said: "But Xiao is timid. In order to ensure that Zangfeng Pavilion can obey my orders in the future, you must give Xiao something to control you, which can also be said to be a vote of trust."
Zuo Feng asked: "What kind of handle do you want?"
Xiao Yincai said: "I think it would be best to use something that can ruin your reputation in the world in an instant."
After a long silence, Yu Le drew his sword and Zuo Feng drew his sword.
Yu Le's sword pierced Zuo Feng's heart.
Zuo Feng's knife was still far away from Yu Le's neck.
This is what he owes the Yu family.
Yu Le finally said: "Let me bury him before leaving..."