August 15th is the day when the lunar dynasty comes to the Yuan Dynasty. On August 15th in the fifth year of Zhenglong, Wang Chongyang, the founder of the Quanzhen Sect, met an immortal in Liquan and was taught by the immortal. Therefore, this day is quite famous in the Quanzhen Sect.
For special significance, one must stay awake all night, burn incense, and worship the Taiyin in silence.
Of course, this is also a good day to make money for Taiji Palace, an important religious stronghold located in Zhongdu City.
Although Zhenren Chongyang once said that if you are greedy for money outside and spend money on cultivation internally, you will be wronged in this life, and you must avoid retribution in the next life. However, when the entire Quanzhen Sect has grown to such a scale, it must be thorough inside and outside, and the use of money is like sand. Everything depends on it.
Focus on the efforts of powerful disciples like Xuanzi to maintain it.
Therefore, on August 15th every year, Chongxuanzi held a nine-day fast and feast in Taiji Palace to pray for many believers.
This year, due to the invasion of the Mongolian army, many dignitaries and dignitaries were worshiping the Dharma devoutly in the Taiji Palace, asking about their future and safety. This was something Chongxuanzi was very good at. Of course, he mustered up his energy and used his magic power to bring the whole country to justice.
The brilliance of the feast made the believers in the audience mesmerized.
But in the past few years, he has been quite pampered, and his belly is bigger than when he was young. Moreover, at the age of forty, his energy is not strong after all. For several days in a row, he sang, chanted and fought, and finally, he became
My muscles and bones are sore and I can't hold on.
On the night of August 23rd, he really didn't have the strength, so he found an opportunity to ask a disciple to step in and go through a few insignificant procedures. He retreated to the living quiet room outside the courtyard and took off his robe.
, lying on the soft couch, drinking water and resting.
Late at night, when he was about to fall asleep, the door of his room was suddenly pushed open, and a close disciple came in with a panic-stricken expression. He hugged Chongxuanzi and shook him and said: "Master! It's a disaster! It's a disaster!"
Chongxuanzi was furious and kicked the disciple away: "What are you talking about!"
Then he reacted, got up on the soft couch, and grabbed the disciple: "What's going on? Could it be that... the Mongolian army?"
Speaking of the Mongolian army, Chong Xuanzi couldn't help but shudder. The year before last, the Mongolian army suddenly arrived at Zhongdu and attacked the city for more than a month. The soldiers who defended the city suffered tens of thousands of casualties. Outside Zhongdu, they crossed Ping, Luan, and Nan to the east.
By the time of the Qing Dynasty, no less than a dozen military prefectures in Cang were burned to death and turned into ashes, with mountains of corpses and ghosts everywhere.
In November last year, Changchun Zhenren, the master of Chongxuanzi, came to Zhongdu specifically, commissioned by the emperor, to call up the souls of those who died in that war and pay homage to them.
This time the Mongols came again, and the court was in even greater distress than before. Chongxuanzi had already secretly made preparations, planning to sneak out of the city and take refuge in the mountains... However, didn't this happen too soon? Oh my God.
, I haven’t cleaned up my gold and silver!
"Not Mongolian!" The disciple shook his head repeatedly and turned to pull Zhong Xuanzi's arm: "Master, come with me!"
Seeing his disciple's serious expression, Chongxuanzi put on his clothes and followed him outside.
The Tai Chi Palace is huge, with more than ten buildings in front and behind. The main hall of the palace is where the feast is being arranged, and a special place has been set aside outside for the servants and entourage of high-ranking officials and nobles to rest.
After all, it was late at night, and most people were sleeping soundly. The servants in the palace who were supposed to be waiting on the palace all went to sleep now.
The disciple led Zhong Xuanzi through several doors along the corridor until they reached the back of the main entrance.
With so many noble people in the palace, the main entrance was of course tightly closed. As a precaution, Chongxuanzi also greeted Yousi in advance and arranged for the Weijie Army officers to stand guard in front of the door.
This kind of thing should have been handled by the Police Patrol Court.
However, because the thieves set fire to the palace a few months ago, everyone in the Police Patrol Court was suffering. The envoys, judges, and officials had all been replaced, and Chong Xuanzi was a little unable to handle the new officials who took office.
Secondly, now that the Mongolian army has invaded, God knows when a war will break out. The archers of the Weijie Army in the Imperial Guard Division are all selected masters. If they encounter a fight, they are indeed more reliable than the ruffians from the Police Inspectorate.
.
The person who was assigned to guard the gate of Taiji Palace tonight was a member of the Weijie Army from the ninth rank, leading his 20 archers.
Chongxuanzi was always a good man. In the evening, he specially prepared wine and meat. He also had a few words with Naduha personally and asked him to watch carefully and prevent anything from happening.
"What's wrong?" He trotted over here, panting a little: "Could it be that those archers were drunk and started fighting? Or maybe they bumped into the noble?"
The disciple made a gesture of keeping silent, walked quietly to the front door, and pushed the side door slightly open.
"Master, look!"
Chong Xuanzi stretched his head and took a look outside. His face instantly lost all color and turned pale.
The weather has been very strange these days. There has been heavy fog all day long. There is still thick fog billowing on the street, making it difficult to see clearly from a distance. But right within his field of vision is the main entrance of Tai Chi Palace.
, Chong Xuanzi saw clearly that there were dozens of corpses scattered here and there. These people were the ones he had seen today, and they were the archers of the Weijie Army who he had transferred to guard!
The archers all looked frightened and their postures were twisted, and each one of them was pierced by arrows like a hedgehog. The blood had not yet solidified, and gurgled along the neat white stone steps, and a strong smell of blood hit their nostrils.
Come.
Chong Xuanzi's legs gave way and he fell backwards.
The disciple hurriedly rushed to support him.
"What's going on? Is it allowed to kill people like this in Zhongdu City? Who did it?" Chong Xuanzi asked urgently.
The disciple said: "Master, there were soldiers outside the door just now!"
"Fighting?"
"Just now, a group of soldiers and horses passed by, about four to five hundred people. Their armor and weapons were extremely sophisticated. It seemed that they came in through the Huicheng Gate. They walked south along the street and happened to pass by the gate. The group of powerful soldiers were originally there.
Drinking wine, he immediately got up to ask questions. The soldiers and horses entering the city ignored him, and when they got close, they suddenly fired randomly with their bows and crossbows...In an instant, they killed all the twenty archers of the Weijie Army!"
Chong Xuanzi took a breath of air.
The death of twenty Weijie soldiers is not a big deal in itself. A few months ago, the thieves killed a lot of people at Changui Gate, and then they passed away with thunder and rain. The question is, will the gate be successful?
The north gate of the capital, going south from Huicheng Gate, is directly opposite the Tong Paradise where the emperor lived daily!
An army entered the city in the middle of the night and headed straight for the emperor. That was no small matter!
"When did that army pass by?"
"When the soldiers broke out and attacked, I happened to hide in the corner of the side door and escaped. Then I immediately looked for the master without delay... Master, the soldiers passed not long ago. If you go out and look around, maybe you can
I can see it!”
Chong Xuanzi sneered repeatedly.
He suddenly turned around and ran to the back of the palace. His disciples thought he was going to notify the nobles participating in the fasting ceremony, so they quickly followed him.
But he never thought that he would run through the Sanguan Hall with melodious music, suddenly turn into a corner, open the side door, and continue running.
Behind the side door is a corridor sandwiched by high walls on both sides. At the end of the corridor is a small courtyard.
Chong Xuanzi ran into the courtyard, knocked on the door repeatedly, and shouted in a low voice: "Open the door! Prepare the car immediately!"
After shouting twice, the people in the room opened the door and came out. It turned out that they had been awake for a long time. When they saw Chong Xuanzi shouting, two people hurriedly rushed towards him and covered his mouth: "Be careful! Be careful!"
Chong Xuanzi struggled at first, but then he understood. He stopped moving, closed his mouth, and became dazed.
He heard sounds coming from outside the courtyard.
This courtyard was secretly arranged by him on the east side of Fengxianfang, specifically for contacting Tu Shanhang. In front of the courtyard is a disguised shop, with the main entrance of the shop opening on Tongxuanmen Street.
Tongxuanmen is the north gate of Zhongdu. The lanes on both sides of Tongxuanmen Street are open and do not have high walls. The homes and stores along the street are very dense. Two miles south along Tongxuanmen Street
, pass through Yanqingfang and Ganquanfang, and arrive at Gongchenmen, the north gate of the palace city.
Late at night, it should have been quiet. But at this moment, on Tongxuanmen Street, there were the sounds of heavy footsteps, the clanging of armors, the sound of horse hooves trampling on the ground, the neighing of horses, and the deep voices of soldiers shouting.
There were scoldings and orders to urge forward. There were even faint sounds of swords cutting into flesh and suppressed cries and whines.
All these sounds gathered together, like some kind of wave rolling up from the deep sea, slowly engulfing Zhongdu City.