Volume Two, The Lake of Winter, Chapter 33: The Night of the Wasteland
Volume 2: Winter Lake Chapter 33: Night in the Wasteland
Ignoring the excitement in the wilderness, Ning Que took Tmall Girl back to the camp, opened the curtain and walked into the tent, glanced at the luggage stacked in the corner, looked at Mo Shanshan who was concentrating on drawing, and asked: "
Wasn't my black horse tied outside the tent earlier? How did it slip out?"
Mo Shanshan put down the brush in his hand, looked back at him, and explained expressionlessly: "You tied him up when he came back in the morning. After you left, I was the only one left in the tent, and he kept stopping there.
It barked and kicked its hooves, and it looked like it wanted to go out and play, so I untied the rope and let it play on its own."
Ning Que looked at her and didn't know what to say. He scratched his head and said, "If it wants to go out, just let it out. Why does this sound wrong? It's a horse, not a human."
"The big black horse is very spiritual. I can understand what it wants to express." After Mo Shanshan said this, he didn't want to explain more on the matter. He turned around and picked up the brush on the inkstone, preparing to continue copying the calligraphy.
Tmall Girl excitedly ran to her and said, "Sister, you are right. Dahei is not only spiritual, it is simply amazing. Do you know that many people outside are chasing it now?"
Mo Shanshan raised his dark eyebrows slightly and asked, "What happened?"
Tmall Girl carefully explained the process of how the big dark horse emerged and won the horse racing meeting, and then said: "As for what happened in the end, my senior brother covered my eyes, so he didn't see it.
"
Mo Shanshan looked at Ning Que.
Ning Que wondered how to describe those scenes.
He raised his hand to cover his lips and coughed twice, pretending not to see Mo Shanshan's gaze, and walked out of the tent on his own. Standing on the hard winter wasteland, he looked at the flag of the Tang Army and the heavily guarded camp not far away in the west.
He began to think about other questions, where should he start to find the horse thief leader?
…
…
As the representative of the Tang Dynasty in this negotiation, General Shu Cheng came all the way from Chang'an City with his trusted subordinates. The security was handled by 300 elite cavalry from the Northeast Frontier Army. Flags were fluttering and horses neighed occasionally.
The tents are in good order, and the place where they are densely arranged is the Tang camp.
In the tent at the center of the Tang camp, General Shu Cheng took off his helmet and stroked his gray hair casually. He sat behind the desk and motioned to his subordinates to get some food. He drank a lot in the king's tent, but he couldn't eat enough.
.
General Shu was eating with chopsticks and vegetables, silent.
The close subordinates nearby noticed the general's thoughtful expression and thought it was about today's horse racing meeting. The general felt a little unhappy after hearing some gossip in the king's tent. After thinking about it for a while, he persuaded him harmoniously: "General, I
Military cavalry are good at fighting, but they are really not very good at pure racing. If you lose, you lose, and no one can stop that old aunt from gossiping."
"That old woman knows nothing."
General Shu said mockingly, as a general of the Tang Dynasty, he had to pay attention to his words in the king's tent to honor Qu Nima Di as the elder sister of the leader of the Yuelun Kingdom. In this private camp of his own army, how could he still be in the mood to show off to that person?
Auntie has no face at all.
When the subordinates saw that the general was not worried about this matter, they thought of another thing, glanced at the soldiers patrolling outside the tent, lowered their voices and asked tentatively: "General, are you worried about Tuyang City?"
In the summer, the imperial court confirmed that the matter of aiding Yan's Northern Expedition was to be presided over by General Xia Hou of the Eastern Zhenjun of the Tang Dynasty. However, no one could have imagined that when the Central Plains began to negotiate with the grassland barbarians, His Majesty had ordered the military to intervene in the matter. General Shu Cheng
When he came to the royal court, even though he came under orders, it was inevitable that he would irritate the border troops. When passing through Tuyang City, General Xiahou actually used the excuse of patrolling the border and refused to even see his face.
"If I were General Xiahou, I wouldn't be happy either."
General Shu Cheng smiled slightly, put down the chopsticks in his hand, took the towel and wiped his face casually, and said: "No need to guess anything, I am indeed thinking about something, but it has nothing to do with the two things you guessed."
The subordinate frowned slightly, thinking that the peace agreement between the two parties has been concluded. The next thing is for the Central Plains Allied Forces to discuss next year's Northern Expedition and the specific matters of assisting Zuozhang Royal Court. Everything should be a matter of course. If the general is not upset about losing the horse race, he will
If he wasn't worried about Tuyang City's wrath, then what on earth was he thinking about?
"I'm thinking about that big dark horse." General Shu Cheng said with a smile.
The subordinate suddenly realized and thought he finally understood the general's intention. After thinking for a while, he said: "The Chanyu seems to be very interested in that horse, but since the general likes it, I will think of some ways to inform the king's account of your intention later."
As a steward on the border, I believe Shanyu would never hesitate to give horses to express his closeness to the empire."
General Shu Cheng looked at his subordinates and sighed helplessly, and cursed: "I don't know what is going on in my mind. How can I seize that big black horse? If that Shanyu wants to seize the horse, he will have to mess with him in the end."
It's going to cause trouble."
Seeing the confused look on his subordinate's face, the general shook his head, looked at the blue sky outside the tent, frowned slightly and said, "When I saw that big black horse today, I felt that it looked familiar. I felt like I had seen it somewhere before."
General Shu Cheng threw the towel on the table and said with emotion: "At that moment, I remembered that when I visited the academy on behalf of the military department for the admission examination last spring, I had seen this big horse in the imperial examination examination room.
Dark horse."
The subordinates were stunned, thinking about the black lightning and the violent black storm in the wilderness before, and wondered whether that incredible horse actually came from the empire?
"Earlier, you saw how violent the big black horse was. During the college entrance examination last spring, all the candidates who were selected to ride the big black horse were thrown off, and the daughter of General Yunhui's family was no exception. At that time, I
I was patrolling the meadow, thinking that no one could defeat this horse, but then I saw a young man walking into the racecourse."
General Shu Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling the scene at that time, and said leisurely: "The big black horse suddenly became extremely honest in front of that young man. I thought it was a little strange at the time, but when the young man made a sound in Chang'an City, I realized
It turns out that War Horse has many spiritual powers and actually knew the power of that young man before anyone else."
The subordinate asked curiously: "Who is that young man?"
The general looked away, looked at him and said, "Ning Que."
"Ning Que..." the subordinate murmured and repeated. Suddenly his expression was shocked and he said in surprise: "Are you talking about the Ning family who moved Chang'an?"
"I don't like to write and write." General Shu sighed and said: "I only know that Ning Que was admitted to the academy last year, and this year he entered the second floor and became the master's direct disciple. I also know that when Ning Que left Chang'an City, the countryside
The racecourse specially sent this big black horse to him."
The subordinate asked: "Then...why did this big black horse appear in the royal court?"
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew that he had asked a very stupid question. Such a majestic and unparalleled horse naturally could not be too far away from its owner. The horse was in the royal court and the man was naturally in the royal court.
"Ordinary people don't know that Ning Que is the thirteenth on the second floor of the academy, but the military department certainly knows that he is staying at the Yanbei border fortress under the alias Mr. Thirteen. But even I didn't expect that he would come to the royal court in person."
General Shu frowned slightly and murmured to himself: "Even the academy attaches great importance to this peace negotiation. Are those deserters in the north really such a troublesome thing? Or is there some secret behind this matter?"
After thinking for a moment, the subordinate asked in confusion: "General, since Ning Que has come to the royal court, why didn't he show up or come to the camp to meet the general?"
After General Shu was silent for a moment, he smiled and said: "Master's personal disciple, what kind of person is he? There is a reason why he doesn't show up. I probably don't have that much face. I just feel that this matter seems to be getting more and more serious."
It’s getting more interesting.”
…
…
As dusk falls, the fire is lit, the whole sheep hangs upside down, and the aroma of wine fills your nostrils, night falls on the wasteland.
People from all over the world gathered in the Wangting tribe, as well as many herdsmen from surrounding tribes who came specially to attend the Gemumu Conference. Under the light of the fire and the aroma of wine, people excitedly talked about the scenes they saw during the day.
There were debates about which warrior was the most powerful and whose archery skills were the most exquisite. Of course, the one that was most mentioned was the violent black horse, and countless people were speculating on who its owner was.
The owner of the big black horse did not hear people's excited discussions. He did not drink and eat meat for fun. Instead, he stole a piece of clothing from a grassland herdsman from somewhere. Under the cover of night, he sneaked westward from the Dahe State Camp.
, quietly approached Tangying, then turned south and sat down behind a high ground.
I don't know how much time passed, but a figure approached from the direction of Tangying. It can be seen from the speed of movement and body shape that this person looked particularly alert and careful.
"I've never figured it out. If you build a picture with wooden sticks outside the camp, how can you tell that it's one of your own? What if it's the urchins on the grassland who built it randomly?"
Ning Que looked at the man and said, although there was no firelight behind the meadow, through the stars in the sky, he could still vaguely see the man's face and clothes. He was a Tang cavalry who looked extremely honest.
The Tang Jun did not answer his question, his eyes were filled with suspicion, as if he didn't understand why this guy would have the leisure to talk such nonsense under such circumstances.
Ning Que stretched out his hand, and the Tang Jun stretched out his hand. The two seemed to shake hands, but there was a soft snap sound, and the two waist badges were gently pressed together, exactly.
By the starlight, the Tang soldier clearly saw the pattern of the waistband held by Ning Que, and his expression suddenly changed. He quickly clasped his hands in salute, lowered his voice and said in awe: "I didn't expect that the Lord would come in person."
"You don't know who I am, how do you know that I am an adult?" Ning Que asked with a smile.
The Tang Jun's honest face showed an honest smile, and he said: "It is clearly written on the waistband that you are a guest of the department, and of course you are a humble one."
Ning Que glanced at this person and asked in slight shock: "The Tianshu Office is the practice yamen, but I don't see any fluctuations in your mind power. Could it be said that you have advanced to the realm of Dongxuan?"
"If you are a powerful person in the Dongxuan Realm, how can you go to such trouble to follow him into the wasteland?",
The Tang Jun laughed and explained: "Although the Tianshu Office is responsible for managing practitioners, not all of its employees are practitioners. There are more ordinary people like Beizhi."
The reason why Ning Que left the Bishui Camp and went deep into the wasteland was because of the news that National Preceptor Li Qingshan sent through the Tianshu Office. The Tianshu Office wanted to cooperate with his actions and would of course find a way to leave him an informant near the Royal Court.
He looked at the other person and said: "Stop talking about gossip and talk about business."
Tang Jun responded with a simple and honest smile: "If you want to talk gossip, you can talk gossip. If you want to talk about business, talk about business."
Ning Que was slightly startled, and thought with a smile that he was indeed a member of the Tianshu Department. He probably had many contacts with those practitioners who had eyes on their foreheads, but he didn't have the usual awe and respect that ordinary people have for practitioners, but
His words and actions are so tactful and tactful. This attitude is really excellent when dealing with practitioners.
He asked directly: "Do you know the mission of my trip?"
Tang Jun answered honestly: "I don't know."
Ning Cao nodded and said, "That's good, because what I want to ask has nothing to do with the mission."
This time it was Tang Jun's turn to be stunned, with a look of admiration on his honest and honest face, thinking that he was indeed a distinguished guest from Tianshu, and such a shameless request to use the power of the imperial court for personal affairs was so natural.
Ning Que continued to ask: "How many people are there in Tang Camp?"
"Cavalry, heavy troops, and some handymen, about five hundred people."
Ning Que looked at the Tang camp with flying flags and dense tents, frowned and said, "It doesn't look like there are only so few people in the camp."
The Tang soldier explained: "One rides three horses, so the space needed is relatively large."
"How well do you understand the situation in the camp?" Ning Que just asked casually, thinking that there were hundreds of cavalry in the Tang camp, and the opponent's apparent identity was just an ordinary cavalry, so how could he fully grasp it.
However, he did not expect that since this Tang Army cavalry was Tianshu's thorn in the Northeast Frontier Army, what he did all the time was to observe any movement in the Tang camp, so he listened to his questions without any hesitation.
He nodded hesitantly and replied: "I can basically master it."
Ning Que glanced at him, thinking that he was really lucky, and asked: "Has there been any special situation in the camp in the past five days? For example, are there any injured cavalry... or even generals?"
The Tang soldier thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "No."
Ning Que was silent for a moment and then said: "Is there anything noteworthy about the logistical supply of food and medicine?"
Tang Bing was about to answer when he suddenly thought of something. He frowned and recalled it carefully for a while and said, "There are indeed some situations where the food consumption in a certain tent seems to be much more than usual. This is true."
Not surprising, but there are also some problems with the stock of medicines in the camp."
Without waiting for Ning Que to continue asking questions, he took the initiative to add: "Military medicines are a key monitoring area of the department, so I think there is something wrong. Those medicines that were consumed for no reason are not only medicines for stopping bleeding and muscle growth, but also for removing heat and calming the mind.
There are some powders, but you shouldn’t need these medicines these days.”
After hearing these words, Ning Que's eyes gradually brightened, and he knew that his guess seemed to be in the right direction. He looked at the brightly lit Tang camp and asked: "Where is that tent? Can you find out what's inside?"
Who?"
"The three hundred cavalrymen who escorted General Shu into the wilderness this time are all from Tuyang City. That tent is the military tent of a certain general of the Northern Army in the east. It is heavily guarded and ordinary cavalrymen like me cannot approach it."
Ning Que frowned slightly, and his eyes slowly swept through the continuous tents, as if he wanted to see the military tents, and said: "It is so heavily guarded, is there any way to sneak in and take a look?"
The Tang soldier didn't even think about it. He shook his head and said, "Unless you break in forcefully."
Then he looked at Ning Que and added very seriously: "Sir, although you are a respected guest minister, and of course you are powerful, but if you forcefully break into the military camp, I'm afraid there will be some problems. Even if you can break in, there will be some problems in the camp.
A lot of people will definitely die, how will I explain to the court afterwards?"
…
…
There is no way to sneak in, so he has to force his way in. However, although he is now a student in the academy, he still regards himself as a member of the Imperial Army in his heart. He will never draw swords against his comrades.
It might become his active choice, so he had to find another way.
Taking advantage of the silence of the night and the stars becoming thinner, the guy who had been assigned to the Northern Army in the east by the Tianshu Office quietly slipped back to the Tang camp, leaving Ning Que alone behind the meadow.
Sparse yellow grass lay on the cold ground, looking like the beard of a malnourished old man. Ning Que lay on the grass, looking at the stars in the night sky above his head, wondering what he was thinking.
something.
A shadow suddenly covered the starry sky above, as if a truly dark night was coming.
Ning Que looked at the black horse's face so close to him, and saw that it turned its thick lips as if trying to please him with a smile. He couldn't help but smile and curse: "The whole royal court wants to catch you, you
How dare you come back to see me."
The big black horse gently arched his shoulder, appearing extremely docile, even a little quiet, as if to tell him that as long as you are not angry, what other people say about it doesn't matter.
Ning Que stood up, brushed off the sand and grass behind him, lightly punched the big black horse on the neck, shook his head and lectured: "People are afraid of being famous, and pigs are afraid of being strong. People who are famous are likely to get into trouble. When pigs get strong,
It’s easy to get killed for eating meat. If you insist on making such a big splash, aren’t you worried about being snatched away if you become too famous?”
The big black horse opened his mouth, and the white horse teeth looked a bit eerie under the starlight, as if he was sneering, indescribably evil, cold, arrogant and stupid.
Ning Que stared into its eyes and sneered: "You mean, even if you are snatched away, you will be taken care of like a treasure, and you will not use an invincible divine horse like you as a cow or mule like me?
"
The big black horse lightly tapped its hooves, silently raking the loose soil on the wasteland beneath its feet, carefully using silence to represent acknowledgment.
Ning Que sneered again and again, pointing to the middle part of its two strong hind legs, and said: "I don't know why the Confederate Army didn't castrate you back then, and the suburban horse farm didn't castrate you, and I don't know how you escaped and became a eunuch.
Destiny, but you should know very well that I have no intention of cutting you off."
"But my kindness does not mean that everyone is kind. With your violent temper, if you fall into the hands of Shan Yu or the princess, do you really think you can keep your precious eggs?"
A cold winter wind blew over the meadow.
A look of fear suddenly appeared in the black eyes of the big black horse. I don't know if it was because of fear of the cold or some other reason. The hind legs clamped together quickly with a swishing sound, but because of the huge and powerful horse's buttocks, it could not be completely closed together.
…
…
Ning Que took advantage of the dark night to complete another spy contact in his life, sorted out the situation in Tangying, and took the time to educate the big dark horse. He had done so many things, and there were countless fires burning on the meadow.
, in the royal tents as if it were daytime, people only did one thing, and that was drinking.
In the spring, the wasteland is like a paradise, but in the middle of winter, it is as miserable as the underworld. The cold wind howls, snowflakes fall at any time, and it is extremely cold. Therefore, people living here like to drink alcohol to warm themselves up, especially strong liquor.
The Central Plains people and the grassland barbarians beside the fire have been tossing between trade and war for thousands of years. The recent invasion of the border and the subsequent counterattack by the Central Plains Allied Forces caused many people to die on both sides. How could it be because of the upper-level officials?
When the big shots reach a peace agreement, the hatred condensed in blood will naturally disappear?
With complicated emotions, the people in the Wangting tribe began to compete with the people from the Central Plains for wine. The drunkenness crept into their chests and abdomen. It failed to eliminate the hatred, but instead amplified their emotions. The competition turned into a competition, and the competition became a competition.
The fight finally turned into a group fight. The soldiers responsible for maintaining order in the royal court and the temple had just calmed down the melee in one place and were rushing to another place. The scene seemed extremely chaotic.
There were several tents standing alone on the edge of the grassland, very close to the Tang Camp, but not within the scope of the Tang Camp. They were not affected by the chaos beside the fire in the distance, and they still seemed extraordinarily quiet, just like the people living inside.
people.
The girls from the River Country saw a lot of novel things at the Gemumu Conference. They were calm and self-possessed and returned to the camp in the evening. Mo Shanshan even sat quietly in the tent for the whole day, with white paper spread out on the table.
On the page, she hung her wrists on the paper and kept copying something, as if she didn't even know what boredom meant.
At this moment, the curtain was lifted. Zhuan Zhihua came in with a young girl. She looked at Mo Shanshan and said gently: "Master of the mountain, we have a guest to visit."
Mo Shanshan slowly stopped writing, put the brush into the water jar, swung it around, and turned around.
The girl was wearing the uniform of the Temple of Heaven, but there was a sense of pride in her eyes that was difficult to conceal. After she walked into the tent, she kept looking around, trying her best to make her expression look calmer.
, but when she saw the girl in white beside the case turning around, she still felt a little nervous.
Because this was the first time she saw the legendary bookworm.
Mo Shanshan looked at her indifferently and said, "Who are you?"
The bookworm is used to speaking in such a direct tone. She doesn't like to talk nonsense. She is used to an indifferent expression because she feels that making expressions is a very hard thing. She is used to looking casually and rudely because...
Her eyes are not very good.
But just like Ning Que, who didn't know someone had an eye disease at first, the female student from Tianyu Academy also felt that she had been seriously slighted or even humiliated, and her nervousness became a little irritable, but she still didn't dare to be rude.
Again, this is the first time she has seen the legendary bookworm. Bookworms are more proud and rude. For students like them who have been living with another bookworm day and night, they are easy to understand and accept.
.
The female students from Tianyuan Academy saluted in awe and said, "Princess Chenjia, please ask Senior Sister Mo to talk to you tomorrow."
Mo Shanshan looked at her quietly, thinking about the old friend he hadn't seen for a long time, and the calm old friend in the carriage above when the blood and fire broke out below the meadow. After a moment of silence, he said: "I understand."
…
…
(Tonight, please don’t talk to me about quality. It will be revised later. Tonight, please talk to me about dreams and about the honor of my parents. Glory is my life. I don’t believe it either, but the glory of my family seems to be killing me.