Chapter 69: The Old City in Distress
According to ancient records, about 2,500 years ago, it was still the period of King Ling of Zhou, and the state of Chu, a vassal state of the Zhou Dynasty, set up Tangyi in a six-in-one place, which was the beginning of the construction of Nanjing. In the beginning, it was only on a peninsula, and at the beginning there were few people, so the natural city was not large, and people did not think there was anything wrong with it. But as the days went by and the number of residents in the city increased, the original city could not accommodate so many people, and the city lord at that time had no choice but to expand the city.
About 200 years later, the king of Chu ordered people to build a stone city in Jinlingyi. The name of Jinling began to spread. According to the records of the wild history, Jinling was much loved by literati and artists because of its unique scenery and geographical location, and also attracted many hermits and masters.
Let's say that Li Fang took a few people all the way from the secret passage, but the road was getting lower and lower, as if it was endless, the secret passage was getting more and more humid, and the torches were already burning with some smoke, which was not so bright, and even the people were a little unreal, and it was a little difficult to breathe in the smoke, so they didn't walk so fast. But it was said that except for Li Fang, who had experienced wind and waves, the rest were people who had never suffered, not to mention two children, Mrs. Mu was unexpectedly hit by Jinyiwei just now, and was just inserted into the back by the embroidered spring knife, which was six or seven inches deep, which had already hurt the lungs, and the blood was flowing all the way. But she was stoic by nature, and endured it all the way, and when she arrived, the pain was so unbearable that she felt dizzy, and she only heard her moan softly, and slowly collapsed to the ground as if her limbs were weak.
When Mrs. Hu saw her fall, she was startled, and immediately screamed, as soon as this situation came out, the two children also panicked for a while. Li Fang had been focusing on exploring the path before, but when she heard the exclamation, she quickly turned back to look, only to see Mrs. Mu sitting paralyzed against the wall, and Mrs. Hu and her two children surrounded her with anxious faces. Li Fang hurriedly walked closer, he carefully looked at the place where Mrs. Mu was injured by the knife, and couldn't help frowning, without saying a word. Lan Chun tugged at his sleeve and asked with tears in his eyes, "Brother Fang, how is my mother?" Li Fang calmed down, gently shook his little hand, and said softly: "Your mother is fine, obedient!" He said and winked at Mrs. Hu, and then slowly straightened Mrs. Mu's body and let her lean sideways against the wall, so that it would be slightly more comfortable to lean, or reduce her pain.
When Mrs. Hu saw him blinking, she was stunned for a moment, but she immediately came to her senses and pulled the two children to the side with coaxing. Li Fang saw that they had already gone away, so she whispered to Mrs. Mu: "Madame is seriously injured and needs to be treated as soon as possible, otherwise her life will be in danger, but we have chasing soldiers behind us, so we have no time to care." Just in case, Fang'er will first seal your acupuncture points to prevent excessive bleeding, and then go out to find Uncle Feng and ask him to treat your injuries, what do you think?" Although Madame Mu said that the pain was unbearable, she was still able to preside, and although she did not speak, she also nodded slowly. Li Fang turned around, connected a few dots on her, sealed her qi and blood, and then helped her to get up and tidy up a little. Just as he was packing up and turning around to leave, suddenly a glance out of the corner of his eye actually stopped again, Mrs. Hu came over to support Mrs. Mu, and took the two children, which was already a little busy. Seeing him stop suddenly, he felt a little unhappy, and couldn't help asking, "Fang'er, why did you stop?"
"This ...... The secret passage is strange!" Li Fang shook his head, and then suddenly said: "We walked underground for a while before we walked flat, that is to say, we are underground, but the humidity in this secret passage is getting heavier, unlike the ordinary underground, as if it is by the lake......" Everyone was silent for a while, Lan Bin suddenly interjected and said: "Brother Fang, why don't we find a place to heal my aunt first, I think she is so painful! Oh, that's right! Daddy once said that there is an underground waterway under our Nanjing city, could this be the reason?"
"If there is really an underground tunnel, it may make sense, but it can't explain this, right?" Although Li Fang was also anxious in his heart, if he was in a mess at the moment, everyone would inevitably be more anxious than him, so he pointed to a small mark and said unhurriedly. Everyone looked at him and saw a small Pisces figure sitting in a corner, the Pisces seemed to be connected with each other, and seemed to be chasing each other, as if there was an active intention to jump out. Li Fang pondered: "This is the Pisces diagram, also known as the innate Taiji diagram, which was used by the ancients to study Zhou Yi or innate techniques. And this corner is very hidden, just about a foot or so next to Madame. If it weren't for the fact that Madame happened to fall here, others would definitely not pay attention to this, and even if they did, they wouldn't think much about it. "Li Fang has followed Feng Linyuan for a long time, and naturally knows that this is a sign of Taoism before the Song Dynasty, looking at this trace, it is old, and it has been a little mottled, and it has been a long, long time since I thought about it.
"Fang'er, let's leave this picture alone, my sister is injured, let's go out first!" Mrs. Hu couldn't help but be a little annoyed when she saw that he was still thinking. Li Fang listened to her words with a little reproach, but knew very well that what she said was reasonable, although she felt strange in her heart, she no longer paid attention to it, and walked ahead of the lead! After walking like this for a long time, suddenly there were stone steps upward, almost vertical, and after walking about forty or fifty steps, he saw the dome. Li Fang touched an iron tip as thick as a child's arm, pulled it open, the dome opened, and a breeze poured in, with a hint of coolness, everyone had been in the secret passage for a long time, and their bodies were contaminated with moisture. Li Fang looked up, the sky was vast, the drizzle was drizzling, and boundless pride suddenly surged in his heart.
Everyone went out of the secret passage, their faces were somewhat happy, and they saw the fragrance of flowers and plants around, the shaking of trees, and the heavy temples in the distance. Mrs. Hu couldn't help asking, "Fang'er, where is this?" Li Fang frowned and said: "I'm afraid this is the old palace city of Nanjing, and I don't want to exit here." Li Fang said and turned around to cover the stone slab at the exit, there was an iron tip fixed behind the stone slab, and once it was covered, the iron tip would fall and could no longer be opened from the outside.
The men walked all the way through the porch and pavilion, and after walking for a while, they finally came to an old city gate, which was tall but closed, and stuck with a huge wooden bolt. Li Fang smiled and said to everyone: "After this gate, it is the outer city, let's go a little longer, right?" Although several people were a little tired, they all nodded in agreement, especially the two children, it was even more commendable that there was no trace of complaint!
Mrs. Hu suddenly asked: "Fang'er, why didn't we see a person all the way here?" When Li Fang heard this, she was shocked, her eyes widened, and she couldn't help but think: "Yes, although this is an abandoned city area, but there are many people living here in the old palace city, in the past, it was full of people, and it was very lively, why is the city gate closed today, and there is no sound, is there something wrong......?" Seeing him deep in thought, the four of them looked at each other, and they all had no idea, but this sudden quiet atmosphere was the most terrifying, especially since several people were hit in a row today, and at this moment they were like frightened birds, and they couldn't stand any fright anymore.
Li Fang shook his head, shook off these thoughts, and said to the four people: "Don't care about these for now, let's go out of the city first!" After speaking, he walked to the door, took off the wooden bolt, and slightly pressed his hands to both sides, the city gate slowly opened, and a "squeak" sounded, the city gate obviously does not open often, otherwise the hinge will not have a rusty feeling. The city gate finally revealed a crack, and Mrs. Hu glanced at it, and this glance suddenly shocked her, and she was covered in a cold sweat. The streets in front of the city gate were full of soldiers, all of them with bright steel knives in their hands, with curved bows and arrows on their backs, and with a sneer on their faces. Li Fang suddenly closed his palms, and under the burst of internal force, the city gate was suddenly closed, his wrist flipped, his feet were picked up on the wooden bolt, and his palms pushed violently, and the wooden bolt was stuck into the groove, and the city gate was suddenly closed. Although he was surprised in his heart, he knew that the situation could not be delayed at this moment, so he immediately turned around and pulled the two children and hurriedly ran back!
"Brother Fang, what are you doing...... Lan Bin couldn't help but ask when he saw that his face was not good and his behavior was quite strange. Li Fang's face was steep, and he said awe-inspiringly: "There are brocade guards outside the city gate, if you go out rashly, something will happen, we have to find another way out!"
"Fuck! Those convicts have run away, slam the door!" the two children faintly heard shouting and swearing coming from the other side of the city gate. A few people ran less than a hundred steps, suddenly heard a clear sound behind him, Li Fang glanced back, only to see a steel knife cut from the crack between the city gates, the knife is obviously very sharp, the person who used the knife is also a master, after the clear sound, the wooden bolt turned out to be two sections. One of the first people pushed the door in and chased after everyone.
Let's say that although Jinyiwei has not been fighting for many years, they are all from the military and have vigorous steps; Li Fang and his party are injured and weak, and the two children have experienced a period of escape, and they are already exhausted, and at this moment they are sweating on the tip of their noses and their feet are weak. Seeing that the situation was critical at the moment, Madame Mu gritted her teeth violently, and even pushed Mrs. Hu away, and said: "Sister go quickly, leave me alone!" Madame Hu was stunned for a moment, not knowing what she wanted, but the two of them usually have a very strong relationship, how can they abandon her at this critical moment? Suddenly, someone grabbed her wrist, and Mrs. Hu looked back, but it was Li Fang. I saw him pull out the long sword behind his waist with his backhand, and said in his mouth: "Madame will take them first, and I will stop them." When Mrs. Hu saw him say this, she hurriedly ran away with the child.
Li Fanghu roared, and rushed out towards the Jinyi guard, less than thirty or forty steps, he rushed to the front, a brocade guard raised a knife to block, and when there was a sound, the Jinyi guard was cut in two with a knife. The brocade guards were frightened and gradually retreated.
When a general saw the retreat, he shouted, "A bunch of waste, are they all eating rice? Li Fang knew that he had only one person here, and if he didn't leave early, it would be difficult to be good, so after he killed a few people, he went to save Mrs. Mu. In an instant, Madame Shepherd had been stabbed several times, and she was about to die. Li Fang grabbed Mrs. Mu's waist, and immediately retreated. The sharp arrows of the Jinyi guards had arrived, and the long sword in Li Fang's hand was waved and twisted, and he was busy protecting the vital points of the two of them, and his body was like flying backwards, and he was dozens of steps away in the blink of an eye. Li Fang was angry in his heart, the internal force was attached to the long sword, and a few sharp arrows were sucked as soon as they touched the long sword, and the long sword in his hand swung out, and the sharp arrow shot out like light.
When the officer saw that Li Fang threw the arrow casually, it was like a machine spring, and the power was very huge, and he felt inexplicably frightened in his heart, and hurriedly took a few steps back, and shouted in his mouth: "Go and ask the commander to come, just say that the thief is powerful, please ask him to help!" Li Fang knew that he could not stay here for a long time, so he hugged Mrs. Mu and went to chase Mrs. Hu and her party!
But it was said that Li Fang had just run away with Mrs. Mu for a while, and Mrs. Mu suddenly pulled his shirt, Li Fang noticed it, and hurriedly turned her head to look, but saw that Mrs. Mu's face was extremely pale, as if she was dying. Mrs. Mu said weakly: "Fang'er, I can't do it, don't take me away......" Li Fang saw her appearance at the moment, she couldn't help but tears in her eyes, and comforted softly: "Don't worry, I will definitely save you out!" Mrs. Mu shook her head and said: "Fang'er, I know my body myself, I'm afraid it won't last long, you can help me take care of them, leave me alone." Li Fang still had to persuade again, and Mrs. Mu had already laughed miserably: "The husband and sister are no longer lucky, and the concubine only hopes to be able to follow them, but those two children are not reassuring." Fortunately, my sister and you can help, and I can rest assured!"
Li Fang knew that she was afraid of affecting herself, but at this moment, she was also forced by the situation, in order to save the two children, she had to wronged her, and hurriedly said: "Madame, don't worry, Fang'er will definitely take care of them!" At this time, when I heard him say this, my heart was relieved, and I left with a smile on my face.
"If you take the body with you, you will definitely not be able to escape, and it seems that you can only grieve your wife. Li Fang was decisive, and after a little calculation in his heart, he immediately thought about it, and even if he put her in the corner of the wall, he walked forward without looking back.
The Lan brothers went all the way, but there were brocade guards everywhere, how could they go far. When the three of them didn't know where to go, they suddenly heard someone shouting behind them: "People are here, everyone chase after them!" Lan Bin was taken aback, and when he looked back, there were more than 100 cavalrymen riding horses. After all, Madame Hu was older, and her knowledge was much better than that of her two children, and she knew that although she was fast on a horse, she could only gallop on a wide section of the road, and immediately pulled one in one hand and hurriedly ran to the side alley.
When the pursuers saw them running into the alley, they hurriedly tightened their hands and tightened the reins, but although the street was wide, it could only accommodate a few horsemen, and hundreds of cavalry had front and back. Although the latter couldn't see the situation in front of him, when he heard that the prisoner was here, he only knew that he hurriedly chased after him, so he could make some efforts and make a meritorious contribution or something. Where do you know that the former is slowing down, this moment is approaching, and it is too late to slow down, and for a while it only makes people turn over on their backs, so it is not lively.
Before Mrs. Hu entered the alley, a sudden palm wind came to her face, and before the palm force arrived, she was forced to breathe. Mrs. Hu was worried about the children, so she hurriedly pushed them to the side, but this time it was a delay, and she could no longer avoid the palm. With a "snap", Mrs. Hu only felt a overwhelming palm force hit her body, and she couldn't help but feel a sweet throat, a mouthful of blood spurted out, her feet were uncontrollable, she staggered backwards, and then fell to the ground. Suddenly, a person had walked out of the alley, looking at him with a solemn face, but with a strange smile, wearing a four-clawed python robe, a pair of tiger skin official boots spotless, and wearing an embroidered spring knife around his waist. Everyone already knew that in the entire Nanjing City, he could only be the one who had this costume - Jiang Huan, the commander of the Jinyi Guard!
Mrs. Hu didn't know martial arts, but at this time, she was injured internally, and when there was a wolf and a tiger before, there was really no way to go to heaven and no way to enter the ground. Let's say that a large number of masters of the Jinyi Guard have surrounded this place, and it is difficult to escape. Mrs. Hu looked at the two children, her heart was dead, although she didn't know where Li Fang was, but since Jiang Huan was here, it would be useless to be afraid that Li Fang would come, not to mention bringing three people who didn't know martial arts! As soon as she thought of this, Mrs. Hu felt even more desperate, and couldn't help but slowly lower her head.
Although the two children are young, they were pampered rich sons before today, but at this time, they were frightened repeatedly, and they could be said to have no sense of vitality in their hearts, and they couldn't help crying. Madame Hu glanced at them, turned her head to Jiang Huan and said, "Commander Jiang, although my husband and you don't say how much friendship there is, please let the two children go for the sake of the two of you who have been officials in the same dynasty for many years!"
"Madame's words are wrong!" Jiang Huan looked her up and down for a while, as if he was surprised, only to see him take a few steps closer, and when he got closer, he said: "Don't you know that Madame is the commander who denounced your husband?" As soon as these words came out, Mrs. Hu was stunned, looked up at him, and couldn't speak, after a long time, I saw her face change, and asked sharply: "My husband and you have no grudges in the past, and there is no enmity in the near future, why are you so vicious that you want to put him to death?" Jiang Huan smiled evilly: " Liang Guogong is stubborn and self-serving, nepotism, and in private, he is even more corrupt and perverts the law, oppresses the people, and there are many people who dare to be angry and dare not speak out in the Manchu Dynasty, no one knows these things, not to mention that the person he is angry today is the current emperor, do you think the emperor can let him live?"
Mrs. Hu suddenly remembered the conversation of everyone before leaving, and couldn't help but suddenly realize: "It turns out that the traitor that my sister said turned out to be you, and the husband's heart was actually given to the wolf-hearted Zhu Yuanzhang......" Jiang Huan laughed and said: "Madame's words are wrong, although the Duke of Liang Guo has made great contributions to the imperial court, but to this day it cannot benefit the people, as the so-called king and defeat, since you are on the run today, then be ready to be captured!" Mrs. Hu sighed, and suddenly shouted to the sky: "God, you are too ruthless, you want to kill my Lan family!" Listening to her sharp and piercing voice, full of resentment, people can't help but look sideways, if ordinary people listen, their hearts must be full of sympathy for her, but where are the ordinary people around.
"Chopping the grass does not remove the roots, and the spring breeze blows and grows. If Madame has something to say, go down there and tell your husband!" Jiang Huan shouted loudly: "The Duchess of Liangguo and all the remnants of the sin are stubbornly resisting, and there is a decree in the saint, kill!" With a wave of his hand, several brocade guards came forward, seeing that they were carrying steel knives, they were violent, and it was obvious that the people who came were not good. Mrs. Hu turned to the two children and said, "Bin'er, Chun'er, my aunt is sorry for you!" The two children knew that they were going to die today, and they were already so frightened that they didn't know what to do.
"Wait!" shouted a gentle voice. Everyone looked back, but it was a young man who spoke, seeing that he was handsome, wearing a long jacket with a trimmed embroidered cloud and xia mandarin duck pattern, and a gold-plated mandarin duck hairpin on his bun, but it was Chen Chen who arrived in the military department. Jiang Huan hurriedly bowed and said, "Chen Langzhong, why are you here?" Chen Chen smiled and nodded: "Commander Jiang, since the emperor has a decree, it is inconvenient for me to say more, but at this moment, the emperor is deeply poisoned and unconscious, and it is all in charge of His Royal Highness Taisun." His Royal Highness the Taisun has a decree, I hope to take them back, and please make it convenient!" Jiang Huan heard him say this, his face couldn't help but turn blue, and he was very embarrassed in his heart, you must know that a few people have torn their faces, if they are let back, it is tantamount to letting the tiger return to the mountain, you must know that Li Fang has been waiting to save them!
Jiang Huan was silent for a while, and secretly said to himself: "If you really let this surnamed Chen take it away, I'm afraid that I won't hand it over easily, if so, there will be endless troubles." It seems that he can only pretend to be confused and forcibly stop them, and he will not dare to openly disobey the holy decree. "Chen Langzhong, forgive me, Jiang only knows that as a subordinate, he must be loyal to the emperor, if there is no holy decree of His Majesty, forgive Jiang Mou for not being able to release people!" Chen Chen glanced at him deeply, and after thinking for a while, he said: "If the commander makes it convenient for the adults, and the father has a gift to give, he will definitely not disappoint you, please think twice!" Jiang Huan listened to the unpredictable yin and yang in his words, and he didn't know what he meant. But if the "Confucian Immortals" don't give it, they are afraid that it will not end well in the future, and they will hesitate for a while. Seeing him hesitate, Chen Chen took out a token from his arms, and then said: "If you make it convenient, not only will you give the prince and your father face, but also it will not be considered a violation of the holy decree, and besides, it is rare for your father to value you so much, please ...... it."
Jiang Huan looked at the token in his hand, knowing that it was the warrant of the grandson Zhu Yunwen, so he had to grit his teeth, only to see that his left hand was spread out, and his right hand was clenched into a fist and smashed on his left hand, and said in a deep voice: "In this case, Jiang will give you this face and hand it over to you!"
Chen Chen saw Jinyiwei retreating, so he arched to Mrs. Hu and said, "Madam, are you okay? You can go with me!" Mrs. Hu ignored him and looked straight at the alley, obviously waiting for Li Fang, Chen Chen saw her like this, and immediately said: "Madame, don't worry, I will arrange someone to pick up Li Duwei in a while!" Mrs. Hu looked around, the Jinyi Wei around was gone, but there were still dark shadows in the dark around the corner, I think there were still people, and they were not good, if they didn't leave at the moment, I was afraid that it would be difficult to get away again.
Chen Chen is a young talent in the capital, Mrs. Hu has naturally heard of him, and she also knows that he holds an important official position, and he is the confidant of the grandson Zhu Yunwen. If they help her, maybe there will be a chance to live, and when she was about to agree, she suddenly recalled what Jiang Huan had said, and hatred rose in her heart! She couldn't help but shake her head violently and said: "If you don't go, you will die, and the people of my Lan family will no longer enter the gate of the official family!" Chen Chen only felt a headache when she heard her say so resolutely, and immediately persuaded: "Madame should know that if there is no official family to protect you now, I am afraid that you will not be able to get out of this Nanjing City!"
"It's a big deal, our family died in Nanjing, it's better than being displaced from now on. Madame Hu waved her hand to stop him from continuing. Chen Chen saw her resolute face, knowing that there was no room for reversal in this matter, so he said again: "Since you don't want to enter the Taisun Mansion, then let me go, I'll send you out of the city in a while, it's better than you waiting here to die!" Mrs. Hu said hatefully: "Death is death, we will never go with you." "Why should Madame be so ......?"
Chen Chen was about to persuade again, when he suddenly heard a person applauding and laughing: "Well said! Being a man should be like this, if you are a hero, you must dare to act!" Several people looked back, only to see Jiang Huan standing at the entrance of the alley again, Jiang Huan's eyes rolled, clapped his hands and smiled: "Chen Langzhong, now she is unwilling to go with you, but Jiang is unwilling to let go." Chen Chen couldn't help frowning when he heard the tone of his words, and asked strangely, "Why did Commander Jiang come back again?"
Jiang Huan smiled and said: "Jiang Mou can't persuade Lang Zhong when he sees it, isn't this here to help!" Chen Chen looked back and saw that the two children were already surrounding Mrs. Hu, looking at her with tears in their eyes. However, it was said that Jinyiwei went and returned, which shows the weight of Jiang Huan's murderous intentions, if Mrs. Hu is stubborn, I am afraid that it will be difficult to have vitality. Jiang Huan didn't wait for Chen Chen to speak, he had already shouted: "Catch them for me!" As soon as all the brocade guards heard this, they all ran in from outside and rushed towards the three of them.