On May 12, the 24th year of Wuwei, the princess's younger brother, Cui Yangheng, the head of the household department, died in Hepingfang.

"The Legend of the Yongshi and the King of Yong"

Before I entered the hall, I heard a voice like thunder roaring there happily said: 'Sima, you don't know, Lao Tzu is lucky this time, the altar of burning knives is sixty years old, you didn't think that there would be such a good wine in that small country shop, so Lao Tzu was not willing to drink it, and specially shipped it back, how about it, if you invite me to eat a good meal, I will invite you to drink.' ‘

Then a calm voice said, "Lao Jing, don't shout so much, Your Highness will be coming over in a while, I'm afraid I will blame you for not following the rules." ‘

The thunderous voice said impatiently: "Lao Tzu knows, His Highness will not blame me, this time Lao Tzu brought good things." ‘

Then I heard Sima Xiong smile and ask, 'What good things can you have, isn't it that jar of good wine?' ‘

The voice said proudly: "You kid would never have guessed that His Highness must like this with me with such a thing." ‘

Li Zhen smiled slightly, coughed lightly, and walked into the hall, I also followed behind and walked in, as soon as I entered the hall, I saw two men in military uniforms standing on one side. Li Zhen stepped onto the throne, and these two people stepped forward to bow down, just looking at the respect and respect they showed up and down, they knew that these two people were Li Zhen's cronies and generals.

I looked at the two of them carefully, one of them had long eyebrows and phoenix eyes, white face, handsome but delicate, nearly eight feet tall, but it was an ape arm and bee waist, which did not appear to be huge at all, and the other was also eight feet, with a leopard's head and eyes, a rough appearance, and a burly figure, but like a small mountain. After the two of them saluted respectfully, Li Zhen pointed at me and said, "This Jiang Sima is the right and left hand of this king, you have seen him in good life, and you will treat him like this king in the future, and you must not be rude." ‘

The two of them turned around and came over to salute me, and I returned the salute and said with a smile: "Your Highness is serious, Zhe and the two generals are both subordinates of His Highness, and they dare not be two great gifts." ‘

After the salute, I walked to the seat of King Yong's head and sat down, and the two of them stood solemnly, waiting for King Yong's speech.

Li Zhen smiled and said: "Sit down, this is not a military camp, you don't need so many courtesies, eldest grandson, are you safe along the way." ‘

The general with long eyebrows stood up and said, "Your Highness, the journey has been smooth, but there are too many carriages and horses, so you can't help but go slower." This is a gift list sent by the envoy of Southern Chu. As he spoke, he handed over a folding. Li Zhen looked at it, handed it to me casually, and said, "These paintings and calligraphy are not studied by this king, so you can take a look." ‘

I flipped through it casually, and said lightly: "There are not many real superbs, but they are not bad, these books are not paid attention to by the ministers, but those books, although Nanchu will inevitably leave some important classics, but I think there should not be too much missing, how can there be ten **, another day, please Your Highness send the catalog to the cold garden, I will check it carefully to see if there are any precious books missing." ‘

Li Zhen nodded and said: "I have written to my father and asked to sort out these books, and my father has already issued an order to the Hanlin Academy for them to handle it, Taifu Chu Ping Prime Minister Chu Ping, Chu Taifu is rigorous and erudite, and he will definitely deal with these books, this is a major event for future generations, and he will not slack off." ‘

I smiled and said, "I can also trust Mrs. Chu, but some books I just look at in a hurry, and I ask Your Highness for permission to borrow a few volumes." ‘

Li Zhen smiled slightly, and said: "You can make your own decisions about these, but Jing Chi, this king heard you shouting outside just now, or did he bring something to this king, what is it?" ‘

Jing Chi hurriedly stood up and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness must like such things if you bring such things." With that, he took out a picture album from his bosom and handed it over.

Li Zhen opened it and looked at it, and suddenly his expression was shocked, and he turned the pages all the time, until he finished reading it, he exclaimed: "What a complete geographical map of mountains and rivers, Jing Chi, where did you get it from, and who drew it." ‘

I was curious, stretched out my hand, Li Zhen handed me the booklet, I opened it and looked, but it was all maps drawn by Seiko, drawing all the obstacles and dangers, mountains and rivers flowing, the drawing is very fine, I have seen the military map of Nanchu, but I have rarely seen such a fine map.

At this time, Jing Chi said proudly: "The last general was ordered to guard against the Chu army in Jingxiang, and all checkpoints had to be inspected, a few days ago, he caught a young scholar, and searched for these atlases from him, and originally wanted to kill this person as a spy, but after Xuan joined the army and asked, he said that this person was not a spy, but Xu Heng's descendant Xu Jun, or a rare talent, so he forcibly left him in the army. I slaughtered him as a spy, he was honest, I wanted to bring him this time, but Xuan Senjun said let me ask His Highness first, this is a letter from Xuan Senjun. Then he handed over another letter.

After Li Zhen unfolded the letter and read it, he glanced at me and said, 'What does Suiyun think? ‘

I smiled and said, "This person is really a talent, but now that there are wars and chaos, if you stay in the people, you will not be able to suffer, Your Highness might as well send him to Mr. Ziyou, anyway, I don't see a map of Youzhou here, so it's not bad for him to concentrate on surveying and mapping." ‘

Li Zhen smiled and said: "Okay, this king will write a letter to Chang Qing later, Xuan's military name is Xuansong, although he is silent, but he is proficient in military affairs, and he is light on wealth and righteousness, do you remember Yang Can, who was born madly in the former Shu Kingdom?" ‘

I thought for a while and said, 'The minister knows this person, he once went to His Highness's camp as an envoy of the Shu Kingdom. ‘

Li Zhen didn't ask me how I knew, just said: 'This person is a hard bone, after the fall of the Shu Kingdom, he actually committed suicide by throwing himself into the water, leaving a suicide note saying that Tian Heng had 800 strong men martyred, how could there be no martyr in the dignified Shu Kingdom, after his death, his wife and children almost died of starvation, and then he wrote a letter to Xuan Song in accordance with his last words, Xuan Song once had a few conversations with Yang Can, and said that he was willing to do his best for him, and finally Chang Qing really sent someone to send all his savings to the Yang family, and the king also respected him very much when he heard it, At that time, he had just taken refuge in this king, and this king saw that he was trustworthy and let him be a member of the army, Jing Chi was reckless, so he sent Xuan Song to join the army, it seems that this Xuan Song is really worth reusing, but unfortunately now he has to rely on him to manage military affairs, and he can't be transferred to Chang'an. ‘

I smiled and said, "Military affairs are urgent, and General Jing is now in Chang'an to protect His Highness, if there is no trustworthy person to entrust him in military affairs, His Highness will not be at ease." It's this Xu Jun, since he is the son of Xu Heng, he should be a person who is good at geography, and His Royal Highness should use it well. ‘

At this time, Jing Chi asked abruptly: "That, who is this Xu Heng, how did he announce his participation in the army, and when he said it, it seemed that the last general should recognize it." ‘

I smiled slightly, knowing that this general was like his shape, a rough man, and said lightly: "This person is a famous geographer in the previous dynasty, he likes to travel all over the world in his life, and has written a lot of travelogues. ‘

Jing Chi immediately showed a look of embarrassment, and said, "Although the last general knows a few words, he can't understand that kind of literary book, and there are a lot of things, how can he have time to read?" ‘

Li Zhen suddenly said with a solemn expression: "Jing Chi, you are so unmotivated, although you are brave in battle, but you can only be a general, if you want to be alone in the future, you have to study more, now that you have come to Chang'an, this king will not need you to do anything for the time being, you just obediently read more books, this is a military order." ‘

Jing Chi, who wanted to complain, immediately stopped, and with a look of remorse on his face, I couldn't help but smile and said, "Your Highness, I'm afraid that I have to work with the two generals to do things, so it's better to leave this matter to me, and the minister promises to satisfy His Highness." ‘

Li Zhen said: "This is a good thing, Jing Chi, don't come forward to apprentice soon." ‘

Looking at King Yong's majestic expression, Jing Chi had to step forward to salute, but his expression was full of distress. I looked at King Yong and smiled, this Jing Chi's surname is unruly, not easy to control, if I give orders to him, he will definitely not be obedient, now I can use this method to justifiably call him, if he is disobedient, I only need to punish him to copy a few more pages, I can make him bow down and obey.

glanced at Changsun Ji, his expression was indifferent, but there was a look of nature in his eyes, it seems that he is very shrewd, he must be a good helper, my plan should be able to be implemented smoothly. I was genuinely happy.

On May 12, outside the Mingde Gate of Chang'an, it was getting late, and the city gate was about to be closed, a middle-aged man in merchant clothes walked in, although it was early summer, but this man was wearing a hat, and his face was not clear under the shadow of the hat, and the soldiers guarding the door looked at the man suspiciously, but he did not stop it, and it was not a critical time, there was no need to strictly investigate. This man seems to be very familiar with the streets and alleys of Chang'an, turning east and west, it took about half an hour to walk to the peace square in the southwest corner of Chang'an, where the most inferior poor people live, different from other poor people's residences, here at night, except for the idle ruffians, there are almost no human figures, both sides of the alley are the dwellings of the poor, from time to time from some cracks in the door from laughter and noise, that is the underground small casino where people gather to gamble and some secret prostitutes, here, There is also a deformed prosperity under the shroud of darkness.

The man walked through the dark alley, the dim lights on both sides dragged his figure for a long time, the long-abandoned courtyard in front of him was his destination, gently pushed open the courtyard door, he walked in, the main room was brightly lit, the man had just walked up the steps, two people flashed out from the dark corner next to the house, one of them looked at the man's face after taking off the hat through the lantern in front of him, and quietly retreated.

Walking into the room, the man saw Cui Yang sitting in the dim light at a glance, and he stepped forward and saluted: "Master Cui, it's okay not to come?" ‘

Cui Yang also saluted: "It is still known as Antai, and the Lord of the Huo League is now famous all over the world, which is really gratifying. ‘

The man smiled arrogantly and said lightly: "This is the last transaction between you and me, I hope we will start and finish well, this is the place to pick up the goods." Saying that, he took out a wax pill, Cui Yang smiled slightly, handed over a box, and said: "It is your final payment, and after today, you and I have nothing to do with each other, but His Royal Highness said that if the Lord Huo is willing, we can keep in touch." ‘

Huo Jicheng opened the wooden box, saw the gold beads inside, and said with a smile: "It's still His Royal Highness the Prince, these gold beads are safer, otherwise, if you stop paying the silver ticket, wouldn't I have worked hard in vain, Lord Cui, I will send someone to see the adult every half a month, if there is anything, please tell the messenger." With that, Huo Jicheng turned around and went out. Cui Yang smiled coldly, and said in his heart: "Your Highness has already set out to eradicate the Splendid Alliance, I hope you can survive tonight." ‘

Not long after, a man in black came in and said, "My lord, we just wanted to do it, but we found that someone was answering Huo Jicheng, so we had to stop for the time being. ‘

Cui Yang frowned and said, "Who is it, do you see it clearly?" ‘

The man in black said: "I don't know who it is, they are all poor people's clothes, but Huo Jicheng has not come out yet, they have seized some important terrain, you know, we have to wait until Huo Jicheng comes in before we can lay out, I didn't expect him to bring people, obviously he entered the city alone." ‘

Cui Yang sighed and said, "That's it, let's go back first, Prince Yuming, and deal with it separately, anyway, we didn't make a move, so there is still a chance to lure him into an ambush." ‘

At this moment, a short scream suddenly came from outside, and the man in black looked grim and said in a low voice: "Someone is sneaking up, be careful." Then he was about to go out, when the door opened silently, and a masked man dressed in black walked in, who was not tall and had eyes like ice and snow.

The man in black stopped Cui Yang and said coldly: "Who are you, you dare to attack us, do you know our identity?" ‘

The man glanced at him, his figure flashed, the man in black immediately counterattacked, the two fought a few moves in this small space, the man in black only felt restrained, but the man was free, but after a few moves, the man slapped his palm on the chest of the man in black, and the man in black screamed: "Great soul searcher." The voice has not yet dissipated, and the figure has fallen, in fact, the martial arts of the man in black are not very bad, but this kind of narrow room makes him unable to use it, and if the opponent he faces makes a move in such a narrow space, I am afraid that even the three great masters are not as good as him. The man quietly walked up to the man in black, gently tore off the black scarf on his face, saw his appearance clearly, and then glanced at Cui Yang. Cui Yang shrank into the corner of the wall with a scream, and said tremblingly: "Strong man, spare my surname, the lower official will have heavy thanks, the lower official is the prince's brother-in-law, if the strong man needs it...... 'The words have not yet been finished, the man has already brushed his sleeves away, Cui Yang is glad to have escaped death, but he only feels a sharp pain in his heart, and the darkness is shrouded in him, what is going on, Cui Yang thought dimly.

The man walked outside the door, dozens of men dressed as paupers stood silently, and there were twenty or thirty black-clothed masked men lying on the ground, and the man was silent, but with a wave of his hand, the figure disappeared into the night.

Huo Jicheng walked on the road with joy, he thought about whether to spend the night in the famous flower building in Chang'an, while thinking about it, he lowered his head and walked quickly, after all, he was still in other people's land, walking and walking, Huo Jicheng suddenly stopped, he saw a gray-clothed masked man standing in front of him, standing with his hands in his hands, his tall and slender body with a strong killing atmosphere, and the dark alleys on both sides were also faintly murderous. Huo Jicheng didn't look back, he could feel that there was also a person standing behind him. Don't think about it, Huo Jicheng's body has already risen in the air, rushing towards the dim house, just when his body is upright, a bowstring sounded softly, Huo Jicheng's body sank, the arrow flew over his scalp, Huo Jicheng had already landed on the roof of a house, he rolled to the side and fled, the wind sounded in his ears, and several people in black had already outflanked and chased, Huo Jicheng only felt that the strong palm wind slapped the back of his heart, he turned around and palmed, the person seemed to snort, but Huo Jicheng also had to slow down, The swords of several other black-clothed people had approached his body, and both sides did not make a sound, and they fought in the dark, Huo Jicheng only felt that these people all had good martial arts, especially the person who was against him, and his martial arts were even better, he saw with his spare eyes that there was a man in Tsing Yi standing on the street, he couldn't see his face, and he was holding a hard bow in his hand, but when he saw his slender body and extraordinary bearing, he knew that this person must be a leader, probably disdainful of besieging, so this person didn't make a move, Huo Jicheng was secretly glad in his heart, and his eyes looked around, Hope to find the possibility of breaking through. However, these people blocked all the escape paths, and Huo Jicheng thought of a strategy while fighting hard.

Just when Huo Jicheng was in danger, a short figure suddenly flashed out of the darkness, he threw out two fiery red projectiles, and suddenly there were two thunderbolts, and then the red smoke billowed out, Huo Jicheng saw that the opportunity came, and immediately rushed to the direction that he had already been optimistic about, at this time there were already voices around, and the few masked people saw that it was not good, and they also took advantage of the red smoke to quietly retreat.

Huo Jicheng panicked, fled for a long time, suddenly a figure flashed in front of him, the man waved his hand, Huo Jicheng recognized the person's appearance, his heart was happy, and he hurriedly followed, the man was outstanding, and took Huo Jicheng to turn around, and it didn't take long to reach the back door of a house, the man pushed open the back door, turned around and signaled, Huo Jicheng hurriedly followed in, it was a hidden house, into the inner room, Huo Jicheng sat on the chair tiredly, and said gratefully: "Brother Han, if you hadn't rescued me, I'm afraid I would have died a long time ago." ‘

The man said regretfully: "Master Huo Meng, you are too careless, you can't think of the prince wanting to kill people, if I don't answer outside, I'm afraid that you will be more than lucky, fortunately I asked my subordinates to prepare smoke bombs, otherwise I would not have been able to save you." ‘

Huo Jicheng said with a gloomy expression: "I didn't expect them to cross the river and tear down the bridge so quickly. And I thought that at least I could escape, and the crown prince couldn't blatantly besiege me, I didn't expect his martial arts to be so strong, and the royal family was really as masterful. ‘

The man sighed and said: "You have a good rest for an hour, I will take you out of the city, there are a few places in the Chang'an city wall that are not strictly guarded, you are outstanding, you can go out, I am afraid that someone will check everywhere early tomorrow morning, if you don't leave tonight, I am afraid that it will be too late." ‘

Huo Jicheng showed a fierce look on his face, and said coldly: "Thank you, Brother Han, I won't let the prince have a good time." I'm not such a good bully. ‘

At the time of the third watch, Huo Jicheng walked out of Chang'an with the help of flying claws from a poorly guarded old city wall, and at the same time, in the cold garden of King Yong's Mansion, Xiao Shunzi, who had changed back into a servant's attire, said to me respectfully: "Childe, the hunt has been successful. ‘

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