"Bang - Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang,

A long and short beating sound resounded dullly but firmly in the sky of the inner city of Kyoto, and on the fourth watch, about an hour before dawn, the sky was silently drizzling during the darkest part of the day.

The middle-aged husband reached out to catch some rain, wiped it and stayed up all night, his eyes were a little dry, and he stopped singing for a while. When he opened his eyes again, he stumbled under his feet and almost bumped into a man.

The husband blinked, and recognized that the old man who was almost knocked down by him was the candle man in charge of the lamp in the Xuanmen section of the inner city tower. But before he could speak, he heard the candle man with a somewhat clumsy body shouting with the lantern in his hand: "It turned out that you were blind, why didn't you sing, and almost knocked out my candle flame." ”

When the husband heard this, he couldn't help but feign anger and said, "Hey, did I, a camel, eat gunpowder today?" Words so rushed! Although we are not on duty, we have stayed up together for so many years" Halfway through the words, his tone changed abruptly, and he sighed and said: "Alas, for the sake of you being ten years older than me, I let you stop talking about this, what are you doing in such a hurry?" ”

The candle man looked up at the sky that couldn't see the color clearly, and said, "Isn't it raining?" I'm going to see the lights I tube. ”

The husband hurriedly said: "I helped you see it when I came back, it's all on!" Are the lamps you use on the upper floors of the castle as inferior as the straw oil lamps you lit at home? It's okay to rain a little bit. ”

Hearing this, the candle man waved his hand and said: "I'm about to retire at this age, I don't want to get old and even that little pension money was caught and blackmailed because of a little mistake, so it's better to be careful." When he came here, he suddenly lowered his voice and said: "Blind, for the sake of our friendship of staying up late together for so many years, I'll tell you a little, I listen to the grapevine, there have been changes in Kyoto these days, and those of us who are on night duty should be careful at night, don't be involved!" ”

The husband couldn't help but be stunned, and when he came back to his senses, he saw that the candle man had already gone away, so he had to wonder in his heart: "The previous dynasty was destroyed, the new country, and Kyoto was in chaos for a while." But now that the new emperor has ascended the throne and is worshipped by hundreds of officials, the situation is stable. Moreover, the newly established monarch of Zhao is still virtuous, much stronger than the previous monarch of Zhou, what changes can there be? Or, who would dare to make trouble at this time? ”

This kind of words, he can only have two glasses of turbid wine in his heart, or with the old guy who can still be on night duty in Kyoto with him although he has changed the court. Thinking of this, the husband had to shake his head helplessly and walked towards his home.

The candle man carefully guarded the lantern and walked to the entrance of the stone steps of the upper city tower, he was a little puzzled, usually there are two sentinels guarding here, why can't he see anyone today? Are you as blind as the guy who fights the shift?

Those gossip made the candle man a little apprehensive, but his job was to be responsible for the lights on the tower of Xuanmen City to be extinguished all night, and it was not his turn to interfere in real national affairs. Thinking of this, the candle man exhaled and walked briskly towards the castle tower with the lantern.

Panting and going up to the city tower, the candle man looked at the darkness of the battle road upstairs, and there was no light, so he couldn't help but curse in a low voice: "Dead blind!" Fortunately, I didn't believe your words, otherwise I would not only not have received pension money, but I am afraid that I would have to go to prison from tomorrow. ”

Lifted the lantern cover, took out the candle flame and lit the nearest city gate lamp, looking at the bright lamp, the candle man couldn't help but laugh again: "I heard that the blind man's lamp was not extinguished, and this is also blind." ”

It's just that when he walked to the second city gate lamp with a candle, the guards on the city tower who were as quiet as stone statues were lying on the ground in a line of three steps, and they appeared under the faint candle flame, which frightened the candle man and subconsciously opened his mouth to shout.

But before he could make a sound, a palm that stretched out from behind his back was already covering his mouth very quickly, so that one hand turned into a palm knife and slashed at the side of his neck, and the candle man fell to the ground and passed out before he could even snort.

The man who stunned the candle man took advantage of the situation and extinguished the city tower lamp that the candle man had just lit, and then squatted down and said to a young man squatting on the side: "My lord, the city tower lamp is usually not extinguished all night, but it will be completely extinguished tonight. ”

The young man who knocked out the candle man was Fang Yuan, the commander of the Arrow Tower stationed in Kyoto, and the person he was now inquiring about was his disciple Yan Lu. Yan Lu is now serving as the garrison envoy of Kyoto, but he is actually a deputy position, so although the official ranks of the two of them are different, the actual right to maneuver is very close. But Fang Yuan has always recited his master's kindness, and although he seemed to be promoted faster than Yan Lu, he still had a humble and respectful attitude towards Yan Lu.

Yan Lu was also smothering with a fire in his heart, how could he not know Fang Yuan's concerns, but the order to turn off the lights was the guy who was sitting in the position of the guard. Although that person has just taken the position, and he has been sitting on the deputy guard for so many years, he always has the qualifications to refer to the words, but that guy is now a celebrity under His Majesty, and he is very stubborn about military orders, and he can't allow others to resist him, so he can only endure it so helplessly, and ask his subordinates to extinguish the lights on the tower of Xuanmen City, and then squat on the city tower with the dirt of idiocy on his back to get drenched in the rain, but the Lord Zhengshi himself doesn't know where he went.

The corners of Kyoto's deputy garrison Yan Lu's mouth flashed with an indifferent smile, and he said to the other party: "This is an order from the garrison lord, and we, as subordinates, only need to follow the order, and we don't have to worry too much." However, it suddenly rained tonight, which was expected by the garrison. ”

Fang Yuan noticed that there was a coldness in the smile on the corner of Yan Lu's mouth, and his heart froze, and when he heard this, he just echoed the silent dry laugh twice, and said no more.

There was silence again on the city tower, and I don't know how long I waited, when the voice of a herald suddenly broke the silence that Yan Lu felt unbearable.

"Lord Yan, Lord Xue, please go to the Chengxi Ningmen Tower."

Yan Lu, who had been waiting impatiently, stood up and said, "But what happened?" ”

The herald replied respectfully: "A carriage appeared in Ningmen, and Lord Xue saw that the carriage had the Lin family's emblem on it, and it was being intercepted. But the carriage was rampant, and Lord Xue was afraid that he would kill the people in the car by mistake, so that he mistook His Majesty's will to capture him alive, so he specially asked Lord Yan to go and help. ”

Yan Lu was about to go downstairs when he heard this, and the thought flashed in his mind, but he forced himself to stop, and said to the herald: "You go back first, I will order the soldiers to arrive soon." ”

When the herald left, Yan Lu snorted coldly and said: "I don't know what this garrison thinks, that Lin Shannai is a famous strategist in Kyoto, and His Majesty gave him the family emblem seal, and he was also infinitely beautiful at the beginning, but now he has betrayed His Majesty and become a wanted prisoner who has absconded, can he still be so public?" ”

Fang Yuan didn't stand up, he half-knelt to the side and said, "Your Excellency, do you suspect that the carriage is an illusion?" ”

"But I can only obey the orders of the garrison!" Yan Lu solemnly sighed meaningfully, and then Fang Yuan: "I'll go to Ningmen, you stay here, if someone or carriage goes out of the city, immediately shoot with random arrows." ”

Fang Yuan had a close relationship with Yan Lu, and was involved in this matter, of course, he also knew the subtleties of the emperor's dictation, so he was a little surprised: "But if the emperor wants to be captured alive, the forest thief will kill him by mistake, if he kills that child, it will always be the emperor's flesh and blood."

"If you really do it, you will say that the Lord will not be there, and you will have to miss it in order to stop the thief." Yan Lu said here, a trace of fierceness flashed in his eyes, and he said in a cold voice: "The worst thing is to eat a few years in prison, yes" Yan Lu said here, his eyes quickly glanced at the guards lurking on the city tower, did not finish the words, just gave Fang Yuan a look, and then quickly went down the city tower.

After three years of civil strife in the Great Zhou Dynasty, after being banned and innovated by the new dynasty Zhaoguo, the first emperor Ao was not in a hurry to ascend the throne, but carried out a major transformation of the original imperial capital of the Zhou Dynasty, demolished the wall of the original imperial capital, and expanded ninety-nine miles, so that the Kyoto of the new dynasty Zhaoguo had two city walls. There is only a wall between the forbidden palace where the emperor lives and the residents of Kyoto, but the direct jurisdiction of the forbidden palace guards is in the hands of the emperor and the empress dowager, and the inner city wall where the Kyoto garrison is located is strictly the inner city wall more than 90 miles away from the high wall of the forbidden palace.

Although the inner city wall is several times wider than the original wall of the imperial palace of the Zhou Dynasty, as the deputy garrison envoy of the commander-in-chief of Kyoto, the fast horse under Yan Lu is not a vegetarian. In fact, the officials and heralds who are responsible for the defense of Kyoto, although the horses under the seat are not as good as the endurance and foot strength of the war horses on the battlefield, but they are incomparable to the war horses in the short-distance assault speed.

Therefore, Yan Lu rode the Jin Ling horse that had been improved and had a smaller body but light feet, and only took half a cup of tea to come to the Ningmen of Chengxi, jumped off the horse and threw the reins to the guards of the city tower, and when he jumped up the city tower in three or two steps, he saw the archers lined up on the city tower, and the sharp arrows in his hands were on the half-moon bow, but the strings were loose, and the arrows were also slightly hanging down.

He began to recommend himself to join the army when the first emperor resisted the chaotic regime of the Zhou Dynasty, from a pawn to his current status, all the way through the tempering of blood and fire, Zhaoguo has been stable for less than two years, although he has not fully accepted the new monarch who has just ascended the throne, but the blood in his heart tempered by military life has not fallen, how can he see the soldiers he trained into this appearance?

Yan Lu couldn't help but roar: "What kind of system, how did I become such a crossbowman?" He strode forward, stretching out his palm, intending to raise the slightly drooping arrow of the nearest crossbowman—like a straight slap on the spine of a recruit bowed out of cowardice.

Unexpectedly, his hand touched the body of the arrow, and the crossbowman simply took the bow and arrow. He also seemed to have difficulties, and after collecting the arrows, he knelt down on one knee in front of Yan Lu with the standard posture of a soldier, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Yan, Lord Xue is downstairs in the city, and his subordinates dare not release arrows without authorization." ”

Soon after the founding of the Zhao Kingdom, a large part of the officers and soldiers in the Kyoto Guard were selected from the remaining people after the battle with the first emperor, and the so-called soldiers were still bloody, so this archer could still retain and express his concerns in the face of orders from his superiors. It's just that the angry lord standing in front of him has a much higher official position than him, and although his hand holding the bow and arrow is still very steady, his straight back is already trembling under the thin armor.

When Yan Lu heard him say this, he turned sideways and looked down the city tower, and the scene he saw couldn't help but make his eyes open slightly.