It was almost dusk, and there were black clouds swirling in the woods around Bisensen, and there were no other figures left and right. Shen Pearl was very regretful, the concubine invited her to go on an outing, she had not been out of the house for a long time, and she was greedy for the pleasant scenery for a while, so she was separated from the team and broke into this forest that she had never entered. Fortunately, Hongrui is still by her side, and she can rely on each other without panicking.

It's May, the weather is getting hotter and hotter day by day, and it's also stuffy in this forest, and Shen Pearl and Hongrui have a thin layer of sweat on their faces. Hongrui was anxious, wanting to see that this forest was huge, the sky was dark, if he didn't go out earlier, he was afraid that he would have to stay in this forest, and he cried out in his heart, and said to Shen Zhuzhu: "Oops, I have heard that there is a black pine forest in the southern suburbs, which is the size of hundreds of acres, and the secret passage is shaped like a spider's web, it must be here!" Miss, there are three forks in the road, which one shall we take? ”

Shen Pearl thought, the more this forest walks, the more forks in the road, although the fork road when breaking in, but there is a fork in the way back, it is difficult to guarantee that you will not get lost, of course, you can make a mark to guide, the sky is dark, this method will not work. Thinking that she and the team were lost, the concubine would inevitably send guards to shout and look for them when she found out, but she didn't even hear a trace of shouting here, could it be that she had already gone far from them? Or is there something else going on?

There was a fierce sound of hooves, and a ride flashed among the trees in front of him, a wide coarse cloth robe, an old man of medium height, with long hair on his face, wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, but the mount was an old green donkey. The old man half-squinted, swayed on the back of the donkey, and walked straight in the direction of Shen Pearl and the others. Hongrui was surprised and delighted, and rushed up to make a gesture: "Hello old man! The old man slowly opened his eyes, looked at the two in front of him with great interest, and said with a smile: "The two girls are so handsome, dare to be lost!" Hongrui was still wearing men's clothes, but he broke it with a word.

Shen Pearl hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Our sisters are greedy and lost in the forest, and ask the old man for guidance, which road can lead to the outside world?" ”

The old man smiled and said: "This black pine forest can lead to the outside world on all roads, if you meet people who can't walk, I'm afraid that you won't be able to go out for a year and a half!" Shen Pearl listened to his pun, and couldn't help but be secretly surprised. Then I heard him say, "The old man is fine, guide you to walk for a while!" Turning the donkey's head, Shen Pearl and the others hurriedly followed.

After walking for more than 20 zhang in one ride, Shen Pearl saw a big gourd hanging behind the saddle of the donkey, and asked, "Can the old man live around here?" How many children do you have? ”

The old man replied without looking back: "The old man travels all over the world, and there are no children or daughters at home. ”

Shen Pearl said "oh" and said: "That little woman and the old man are related, there is water in the gourd, the little woman is thirsty, can you borrow a mouthful?" Hongrui muttered secretly, Miss has always loved cleanliness, how can she open her mouth to borrow water from others to drink, she is really thirsty. Hearing this, the old man turned around and took down the gourd and handed it to Shen Zhuzhu.

Shen Pearl held the gourd, took a sip slowly, and handed it to Hongrui and said, "It's delicious, you can take a sip too!" Hongrui took the gourd, smelled the gourd and faintly revealed the aroma of wine, the sweetness was mixed with spicy, and in hesitation, he suddenly heard Shen Pearl whisper in his ear: "Be careful, this person is cheating!" When he looked up, he saw that the old man had turned his head violently, the saddle of the donkey moved slightly, and a long sword with a cold light was already in his hand.

Hongrui was not afraid, and asked, "What do you want to do?" ”

The old man sneered and said, "The old man is helpless, and he is also ordered by others to take the lives of the two of you." But I don't understand, I'm careful everywhere, where are the flaws revealed for you to know? ”

Shen Zhuzhu's eyes were raised, and he said: "You said that you have traveled all over the world, when you have been wandering around on a donkey for many years, it is common to drink water with a gourd, how can you be so clumsy, and you have to deliberately turn back to take it?" There are few cocoons on the tiger's mouth on your palm, and many cocoons on your five fingers, which is clearly a long-term sword dancer; As for the wine in the gourd, in the humble opinion of the little woman, it is not an ordinary wine in the world......" paused, looked up and said: "Rather, the imperial wine in the palace!" ”

"Good, good!" The old man was taken aback for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "It's a pity, Princess Guangping, what a delicate woman." "It's a pity that I want to kill someone.

Hongrui had already pulled out the long soft sword wrapped around her waist, and said, "Don't be busy talking about pity, and ask me about the sword in my hand first, maybe we will sigh for you!" As he spoke, he began to fight with the old man.

The old man's swordsmanship was fierce and fierce, and his moves were all aggressive, and Hongrui's swordsmanship was flexible and free, without the slightest delay, and the two were tied at the beginning. But after a long time, because Hongrui's swordsmanship was mainly on the defensive, and Hongrui was young and weak, she gradually fell behind, and Hongrui had to shout to Shen Zhuzhu, "Miss go quickly", while constantly wandering around the tree, in order to fight. The old man laughed when he heard this, and said, "I can't leave a single one", and suddenly stabbed more than ten swords at Hongrui, and the swords did not leave her in a few vital places, and in an instant, Hongrui added a few scars on her arm. Hongrui's cold sweat fell, and he made a decision immediately, and the thumb of his left hand snapped and flicked, and as soon as he "hissed", a finger wind came out, the old man bled from the tiger's mouth, and the sword fell to the ground, the old man was slightly stunned, and said: "Little girl, there are still two strokes under your hand!" ”

Hongrui saw the opportunity to pick up Shen Pearl and ran, but when she heard the sudden sound in the forest, seven or eight masked people rushed out of the forest and surrounded the two. These people's martial arts are not weak, although the old man does not participate in the fight, Hongrui is still clumsy and very difficult. This kind of life fight is the most taboo distraction, Hongrui Fang got a flaw, and kicked a thin masked man out of the distance with flying legs, turned his head to see that Shen Pearl had been bound by two masked people, one was in a trance by another fat masked man on the arm of the curved pool acupoint, his body was stagnant, and a bright steel knife was on his neck. She glanced at Shen Zhu, her face was as pale as earth, and she threw her soft sword on the ground in a dejected manner, and said, "Who are you, and whose orders are you?" Let our master and servant be a clear ghost! Several masked men came up and tied her tightly.

The old man smiled and didn't answer, and then half-squinted his eyes and was silent for a while, and suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes were full of light, although it was almost dark at this time, he was still in a blazing spirit, which was very different from the downfall and leisure of Fang Cai, and said to Hongrui: "When the old man bears the princess, I will reason with you again!" After speaking, he held the sword in his left hand and stabbed straight at Shen Pearl. Hongrui only hated that she couldn't replace her, and Shen Pearl could only sigh secretly "My life is over", closing her eyes and waiting for death.

"Bell", between the lightning and flint, a sword was inserted diagonally, which could be used to open the old man's sword. Shen Zhuzhu opened his eyes: Huo Ran, the person who opened the sword, turned out to be Li Jiao, with a blue face, his sideburns were slightly loose, and he thought he was in a hurry, and the panic in his eyes had not yet dissipated. Behind him, a masked man in green clothes was already fighting with the old man, and the masked man in green clothes was so agile that it was difficult to tell the winner for a while.

I don't know why, those masked people who besieged Shen Zhu and Hongrui saw that Li Li seemed to be forced by his momentum, and they all didn't dare to step forward to fight, but involuntarily took a few steps back, allowing Li Li to cut the rope on Shen Zhu's body. Li Li didn't say a word, leaned over to check whether Shen Pearl was injured, a drop of sweat slowly fell from his forehead, Shen Pearl couldn't help but move at will, he was in it, stretched out his sleeves to wipe off the sweat beads for him, and gently blew up his scattered hair, smiled faintly, and said in a low voice: "Li, it's okay, don't worry." ”

"Haha, what a fast sword!" Suddenly, he heard a long roar from the old man, put away his sword and stood up, and the masked man in Tsing Yi had no choice but to return his sword and look at the old man hesitantly. The old man stepped forward and shook Li Jiao to the ground and said, "The old minister sees His Royal Highness the King of Guangping." With a flick of his face, he took off his wig and revealed his true face, Li Jiao was stunned for a moment, and said, "It turned out to be Master Zhang Jiuling." "Shen Pearl couldn't help but be surprised, Zhang Jiuling was originally the left minister of this dynasty, since the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan because of Li Linfu's bull cyclamen, didn't he hear that he died of illness that year? Why is it still here?

Zhang Jiuling thought that he understood Shen Zhuzhu's thoughts, and looked up to the sky and said with a smile: "Princess Guangping is very smart, you must know that life is parasitic and death, thousands of rivers have water, thousands of rivers and moons, thousands of miles of clouds and thousands of miles of sky, old decay is now detached, although the princess is in the bureau, there is always a day of comprehension." Shen Pearl chewed these words carefully, but still seemed to understand.

Zhang Jiuling slapped his face, and the masked man who followed him loosened the rope on Hongrui's body, and each took off his black clothes, all of them were wearing dark green bright light armor and nine silver belts, and they were all the guards of the flying dragon envoy in the inner court. The Inner Flying Dragon Envoy has always been personally commanded by the emperor, and Li Li and Shen Pearl couldn't help but be taken aback and suspicious.

Hearing this, Zhang Jiuling smiled and said: "The old minister's trip is all on the orders of the emperor, and the emperor really did not coax him, and this trip is very enjoyable." Attached to Li Jiao's ear and said a few words, Li Jiao's doubts disappeared, and he said to Zhang Jiuling: "Please return to Your Majesty, and your grandson will bow to heaven." Zhang Jiuling shook his head: "Then His Royal Highness has to go to thank you in person, the old man has done this errand of Chun, and he really wants to travel the world, take the four seas as his home, and I don't know when I will return to Xijing." The masked man in Tsing Yi standing on the side of the province said: "The masters of Emei are frequent, go back and tell your master, I Zhang Qujiang ask him well!" The masked man in Tsing Yi replied respectfully yes, and he didn't say much.

As he spoke, Zhang Jiuling had already put his sword into the sheath, took the donkey's head, and said to the flying dragon envoy guards who came with him: "You should first escort His Highness out of the forest, and then return to the inner court to die!" ”

stepped on the green donkey, looked back and hugged his fists and sang with Li Li and Shen Zhuzhu: "Your Highness, the old minister is going!" The princess ,—— fate—goodbye—" When the word "see" was spoken, the figure had already dissipated in the forest, and only the poem he chanted drifted away in the wind: "Ten thousand trees are soft and knotted, and a thousand flowers are desired."

"Good birds sing in the pines, and clear springs flow under the bamboo."

Li Jiao looked at Zhang Jiuling's place from afar, as if he was talking to himself, and seemed to whisper to Shen Zhu: "Lord Zhang has finally returned, and he has been dismissed as prime minister in the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan, and he has been appointed as Li Linfu full-time. Shen Pearl never saw his frustration at this time, and continued: "I always remember the world-famous song "Feelings" by Master Zhang, 'Orchid leaves are springy, Guihua is bright in autumn; Shin Shin this business, since the festival ', now the personnel has been changed, Zhang was not angry at the beginning, now everything can be put down. It's not a bad thing. Li Jiao said: "It's a pity that the imperial court has gone to the famous and good minister again." Holding Shen Zhuzhu: "It's getting late, let's go!" ”

Shen Pearl agreed, Fang took a step, "ouch" called, Li Jiao's face changed, and he asked urgently, "What's wrong?" ”

Shen Pearl smiled wryly, frowned, and said, "It's okay, I think it's a twisted hamstring." Li Li squatted down and looked, her ankles were swollen to the old height, and she didn't hesitate to bend over and pick her up, Shen Pearl was ashamed, and buried her head in his solid neck. The drizzle was faint, dripping on his purple robe, slippery and rolling down. When he heard the news, he didn't even have time to argue whether it was true or false, so he rushed from the Ministry of Criminal Affairs in such a hurry, he didn't think about anything along the way, he didn't dare to think about anything, so he rushed here, she was finally in his arms, and he lost her for so long, it turned out that he was just deceiving himself, he was so afraid of losing her. He curled the corners of his lips slightly, there seemed to be a smile on his face, and he shouted: "Go!" ”

"Your Highness, be careful-" There seemed to be a familiar voice in the distance, he instinctively flashed in his stunnedness, a cold light passed by his face, Shen Pearl let out an exclamation, and the masked man in Tsing Yi and Hongrui had already unsheathed their swords at the same time, and quickly knocked down the hilt of the sneak attacker's sword. The man lost his weapon and fought endlessly, but the masked man in Tsing Yi had Hongrui to help him fight, and he only fought for more than ten moves before subduing him and twisting his hands to his back. At a glance, the person who attacked this sneak attack was actually one of Fang Cai's Inner Flying Dragon Envoys.

"Your Highness, Your Highness—" The people in the distance panted and ran closer, their hair was scattered, and the mud on their white skirts turned out to be Dugu Mirror. Seeing that the flying dragon envoy had been restrained, she stopped, breathed a sigh of relief from afar, and met Li Jiao's cold and cold gaze head-on, her heart was bright, and her face was like paper at first, but she immediately returned to normal, standing on the ground and hanging her head still.

", it's all your bad thing!" The restrained Inner Flying Dragon Envoy scolded Dugu Mirror fiercely, and his body suddenly fell to the ground, motionless. The masked man in Tsing Yi hurriedly stepped forward to look, and replied to Li Jiao: "Your Highness, this person has gritted his teeth and hidden poisonous spicy and committed suicide. ”

Li Jiao nodded: "This person is a dead man, there is no need to search him, and he can't find anything." His eyes coldly swept over the faces of the remaining Inner Flying Dragon Envoys, all of them shuddered, and the black press fell to his knees, and heard him say: "Mixed in the Inner Flying Dragon Envoys, I intend to take advantage of today's events to do wrong to this king." With a narrowing of his eyes, he gritted his teeth and said to the masked man in Tsing Yi: "There is no forgiveness for killing!" ”

The masked man in Tsing Yi was Feng Shengyi, who had already understood Li Li's intentions, and listened to his order, swung his sword to slash at the group of flying dragon envoys, they were caught off guard, Shen Pearl covered his ears and didn't listen to the screams, huddled in Li Li's arms, his body kept shaking, and the sound gradually subsided, and vaguely heard Li Li say to the flying dragon envoy who was still breathing: "The king of Ming Japan returned to His Majesty, this king and the princess were attacked by assassins in the forest, you all fought and died, you can rest assured that you can go!" ”

She felt a moment in her heart, a moment of discomfort, a moment of grief, a thousand turns, you looked up and saw Li Jiao staring at her affectionately, although the sky was dark, her eyes were as bright as lights, she gently hooked her hand to hold his neck, pillowed her head on his chest, and said slowly: "I understand, it's all because of me." "If he wasn't worried about her, how could he only bring people to come to the rescue, so that these Inner Flying Dragon Envoys would know that King Guangping privately raised martial arts masters, and there were many people, if it reached the ears of Xuanzong, it would be difficult to protect the disaster of the three kings of Li Ying in the past.

Listening to Li Jiao's casual words to Feng Shengyi and Dugu Jing: "Li Linfu really has a lot of ears and eyes, and he didn't repair in vain in that Yuetang. "Yuetang, it is said to be a special hall in Li Linfu's mansion, which is extremely strong and secretive, and is used exclusively to discuss and frame and murder people in the court.