For many ladies in the palace, this night was a sleepless night after all. But it was the wedding night of the newly sealed Rong beauty. When Dugu Yanxiang returned to the dormitory, Rong Meiren had already been sent over.

He stepped forward and pinched the beauty's face and looked at it carefully, pinching it so hard that the beauty couldn't help but let out a soft shout or two. It took a long time for him to put down his hand and mutter, "Alas, you are not her after all." ”

Early the next morning, news came out in the palace that the emperor had accepted a little palace maid and was named Rong Beauty. Shangguan Beitang, who was practicing riding and archery at the racecourse, was shocked when he heard the news and almost fell off his horse.

He grew up with the emperor since childhood, and he still knows some of his thoughts. At this moment, although he accepted a beauty, he undoubtedly exposed his thoughts. That Rong beauty is so similar to herself, I am afraid that once a smart person has a heart, it is not difficult to guess the meaning. The emperor is him, what does he want to do.

"Lord Wang, Lord Wang." Hu Shang, who came with him, asked. "Ao, Mr. Hu." Shangguan Beitang came back to his senses at this time. "Does the prince have something on his mind?" "This king just suddenly remembered some things, don't say it, how is Mr. Hu living in the mansion recently, everything is still agreeable?" Shangguan Beitang prevaricated and asked, "Drive." ”

"Thanks to the prince's acceptance, the grass people are grateful. It's just that I don't know if the prince has found out who wants to kill my friend? Hu Shang asked. I have sent someone to handle this matter, and I can't be in a hurry, and I hope that Mr. will forgive me. Sir, please rest assured, this king will protect you thoroughly. ”

"The grass people are cheap, but they are not afraid of death, but they pity my friend." Hu Shang looked sad and worried. "To tell the truth, Mr. Hu, this king has also admired the name of the immortal son for a long time, not to mention that he also saved the life of this king. If the king had known about him, he would have done his best to save him. Shangguan Beitang said again.

Hu Shang saw that he was very sincere, so he said: "The prince is so righteous, and the grass people are very grateful."

"I heard that the prince is going to inspect Dongchuan in the near future?" Hu Shang asked again. "Well, how did the gentleman know?" Shangguan Beitang said. "In the past two days, I saw that Miss Yuzhu was packing her bags for the prince, so I asked."

"It is said that the king should also go to the town to guard the border pass, but the saint is worried that he has not asked me to go, recently the Dongchuan bandits are rampant, raging the people, and the ministers in the court suggested sending me to inspect and suppress. This king thought that I had practiced martial arts since I was a child, but I had never fought a war, and I had received the court for so many years. took the initiative to ask Ying to go to suppress it. Shangguan Beitang said.

Remembering that it was really not easy to go to the emperor to ask for help, it was hard and hard to soak and stalk for a few days before the emperor agreed. Even so, he was still worried about dying, so he had to give him Shang Fang's sword. Just in case.

In addition, the emperor also explained to him that the ministers of the DPRK and China accused Qian Wanqing, the prefect of Dongchuan, of forming a party for personal gain and perverting the law for bribes, and told him to openly suppress bandits and secretly investigate the matter. If it is found to be true, it can be exercised to cut first and then play.

"The prince is going, why don't you take the villain with you." Hu Shang said. "You? Why go? "It's okay for the villain to stay in the house, it's better to accompany the prince, the grass people of Dongchuan have been there once, and the people are quite familiar with the customs, so they should be able to help the prince." "Okay, if you want to follow, just follow it." "Thank you, Lord Wang."

Three days later, Shangguan Beitang took 3,000 soldiers and horses out of Beijing and went straight to Dongchuan. After two days of marching, they finally reached the outside of Dongchuan City. Along the way, Shangguan Beitang noticed that the closer it was to Dongchuan, the more desolate the nearby fields became, and no one cultivated them. Everywhere you see old and weak women and children, and it is rare to meet young and strong men. Most of the people were in rags, and there were many people begging along the streets.

Shangguan Beitang stationed his army on a wasteland outside Dongchuan City. He entered the city first with Hu Shang, An Hai and two other lieutenants. He did not notify the prefect of Dongchuan to come to pick him up, but turned into a common man and entered the city. Shangguan Beitang was very angry about the scene that came along the way, and he asked Hu Shang: "Sir, what do you think of the scene of Dongchuan City?" ”

"Back to the prince's words, the grass people are also very puzzled, thinking that this Dongchuan is the land of rice and grain, how did it end up like this. I'm afraid there's something hidden in it! Hu Shang thought about it and said.

"This king also feels that this matter is strange, this way I have seen a lot of good land, but I have not seen any farmers farming, and I have met all old and weak women and children, and there are few young and strong men, I am afraid that a big change has happened in Dongchuan City."

Several people chatted while walking, and the deputy general Wu Tong said: "Lord Wang, look. Shangguan Beitang moved his gaze to the corner of the wall, only to see an old beggar in rags struggling to pick at the skin of the corner of the wall to satisfy his hunger.

Shangguan Beitang said, "Which of you has brought dry food?" An Hai searched his body and said, "The last general still has half a cake here." Shangguan Beitang took the cake and handed it to the old woman and said, "Old man, eat something." ”

The old woman was stunned for a long time before she knew that she had taken the bread to eat. After eating a few bites, he remembered to say thank you, and was about to kneel, but Shangguan Beitang hurriedly stopped him and said, "You hurry up and eat, you don't need to thank you." Then the old beggar sat down again and ate well. Hu Shang stepped forward and asked, "Old man, why has this Dongchuan City become like this?" Do you have any family? ”

"Woo, my grandson starved to death two days ago, and I'm the only old woman in the family." When the old woman heard the question, she immediately cried. "What about your son and daughter-in-law?" Shangguan Beitang asked again. "The daughter-in-law was snatched away by the officials, and the son was also beaten to death." The old woman wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said. "What's going on? Which official is so bold. Shangguan Beitang heard that he was okay with this, and asked again.

The old woman took another bite of the bread with her teeth, which were almost finished, and swallowed it slowly, and then said, "I am such a bad old woman in the house, and there is nothing to fear, so I will tell you." It was the prefect Qian Wanqing. Phew,, crazy stuff. On the second day of May last year, my daughter-in-law and I went to the street to sell zongzi, and we happened to meet Qian Wanqing patrolling the street.

He fell in love with my daughter-in-law at a glance, and he didn't care about decency, so he came up and teased him on the grounds of buying zongzi. Our mother-in-law and daughter-in-law managed to escape. Who knew that at night he actually sent people to the house to rob people, they were outnumbered, where was my son their opponent. They were injured in a few hits. Unable to resist, I had to watch my daughter-in-law being taken away by the beasts. ”

"After my daughter-in-law was snatched away, my son went to ask for someone, but they beat him to death, and it didn't take long to hear that my daughter-in-law committed suicide by throwing herself into the river because she was unwilling to be humiliated. Later, they also designed to rob my family's land, and since then, my grandson and I have been left in the family.

I had no choice but to take my grandson to beg along the street, but the people in Dongchuan City were all disgraced by the dog official Huo Huo, and everyone was poor! Two days ago, I didn't get any food, and my grandson starved to death. I'm the only one left. The old woman was helpless in the end.

"How can this be reasonable, he Qian Wanqing is so bold! Born as the parents of the people, the official dared to rob the people's daughter and forcibly occupy other people's land! Shangguan Beitang gritted his teeth and scolded. So where do you live now? Hu Shang asked again. In the east of the city, there is an old and dilapidated Bodhisattva temple that can shelter from the wind and rain. The old woman said slowly.

"Old man, we want to stay in Dongchuan for a while, why don't you follow us for the time being." Shangguan Beitang said, "Xiao Anzi, take the old man back to the camp first." Good life care. "Yes."

Shangguan Beitang arranged the old woman in a thatched house outside the city, and then ordered someone to bring her some food and clothing, and asked her many questions. "Old man, do you know that there have been a lot of bandits in Dongchuan recently?" Shangguan Beitang asked. "Little boy, you must not call it that! It has to be called the Yellow Hair King. Beware of the beheaded. The old beggar looked outside, stretched out his hand and made a gesture to cut his neck, and said cautiously.

"Old man, then you tell us about the yellow-haired king!" Hu Shang said. "Hey, they're all poor people, they're all forced by the government!" "How was it forced, and by whom?" Shangguan Beitang asked. "The yellow-haired king was originally from Huangping County, Dongchuan, named Huang Hai, and he was a teacher who did his duty before. I don't know who said that the ancestor of the Huang family was a high-ranking official, and there was a priceless piece of jasper in his family. ”

"When Huang Pingzhi heard about this, he summoned Huang Hai and deceived Jasper in the name of it. After seeing Jasper, he became greedy again and wanted to keep it for himself. However, he was afraid that the Yellow Sea would come to ask for it as soon as the loan period arrived, so he took the lead in sending people to burn Huang Hai's home, intending to burn Huang Hai alive. It's a pity that people are not as good as heaven, and Huang Hai stayed in the school that night and didn't come back. Except for the Yellow Sea, all of the family were reduced to ashes. "Hey! Poor, pitiful. Shangguan Beitang couldn't help but sigh when he heard this.

Later, Huang Hai found out that the magistrate sent someone to burn his house, and knew that the ancestral jade was going to come back, so he reported to the prefect and wanted him to make decisions for himself. Unexpectedly, their officials protected each other and put Huang Hai in prison. Huang Hai was tortured in prison, and finally saw the way of the world clearly. On a rainy night, he escaped from the prison and went to Donggang Mountain to become a bandit. He studied and had a flexible mind, and soon became the third-in-command of Donggang Mountain, and later in a robbery of the mountain king of Donggang Mountain, he was killed, and the second master was injured, so he subdued the bandits and became the mountain king. Because he robbed the rich and helped the poor for the way of heaven, people called him the yellow-haired king. ”

Shangguan Beitang was very angry when he heard this, paced back and forth a few steps with his back hand behind his back and said: "How can this be reasonable, how can it be reasonable, even a mountain bandit dares to use the banner of acting for the heavens, and still take the imperial court in his eyes?" "The yellow-haired king robbed the rich and helped the poor to punish the wicked, and never bullied the people, so why didn't he do the right thing for heaven?" The old woman said.

"He dares to play the banner of Tianxingdao, isn't he ignoring what the imperial court is doing?" "The imperial court is far away from the sky and can't take care of us, and the prefect and county government are doing things that rob the people and women and forcibly collect people's money, and they are not as good as the yellow-haired king!" The old woman argued with reason. "You!" Shangguan Beitang was angry, but speechless.

"Little boy, I see that your appearance is also a noble person, my wife is alone in our family, and I am not afraid that someone will kill me, even if the emperor comes today, I will say the same."

"Xiao Anzi, let's go back." Shangguan Beitang said helplessly that he knew that he was at a loss. "Yes."

Back at the camp, Hu Shang asked, "How does the prince plan to suppress the bandits?" Shangguan Beitang walked to the front of the case and said to the deputy general Lu Yuan: "Bring the map." Lu Yuan listened to the order and spread a map on the case. Shangguan Beitang pointed to the map with his finger and said: "From the map, Donggang Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it is not impossible, this king plans to go to reconnoiter tomorrow, if the terrain is really the same as on this map, as long as we send troops to surround these three sides, and then cut off the water source from here, the bandits will be eliminated in a few days." ”