Countless black riders galloped back and forth in the distance. Far above the long river,

a round blood-colored sunset; In the lonely city,

The wolf smoke pierced straight into the dusky sky. Tianbao three years, January 14th, Sizheng.

Chang'an, Chang'an County, West City.

The spring is cold and the sun is shining. At this time, there were no clouds over Chang'an City, and it should be a good weather today.

With a creaking sound, the two heavy doors of the West Market were slowly pushed open, and an enlightened beast flag hung high in the middle of the lintel. Outside, more than a dozen Luo teams had already gathered on the street. As soon as they saw the flag being hoisted, they immediately became noisy. The men drove up the camels lying on the ground with small cowhide whips, counted the boxes, called out to their companions, and shouted in foreign accents.

This was the last group of Hu caravans to arrive in Chang'an before the Shangyuan Festival. They set out from distant Fulin, Persia and other places, day and night, just to catch up with this most important festival in Chang'an. You must know that from tonight, the Shangyuan Lantern Festival will last for three nights, and the dignitaries and nobles of the Tang Dynasty will spend money, but they will not be merciful.

The officials of the West Market Bureau stood on both sides of the west entrance of the West Market with a book in one hand and a pen in the other, and inspected the customs clearance documents and goods one by one with expressionless faces. Today is a special day, and the West Market opens half an hour earlier than usual. These officials wanted to finish their work as soon as possible and go home for the holidays, but the inspection speed was a little faster.

An old official quickly registered a group of Persian merchants, and then beckoned to those at the back of the line. A man in a short chestnut robe with a double lapel walked over and presented his hands to him.

The old official took it and took a look, and was stunned for a moment.

The transgression itself is unassailable. The applicant's name was Cao Poyan, a Sogdian, from Kangguo. This time, he came to Chang'an with a total of fifteen companions, fifteen camels and a stallion, and the goods he carried were thirty wool felt blankets and variegated leather goods.

The problem is not in the pass, but in the goods.

The old official has been doing this business for twenty years, and he has seen too many caravans and goods, and he has already developed a pair of eyes as sharp as an eagle. Sixteen people, but only such a small amount of goods are transported, how high is the cost of amortization? What's more, Chang'an is already in spring, and the felt carpet market is down. Even if all these goods are sold, I'm afraid that I won't even be able to cover the cost of going back and forth - how can there be such a stupid businessman on the long road?

The old official couldn't help frowning and carefully looked at the Hu merchant in front of him. Cao Poyan was about thirty years old, with a high nose and deep eyes, and a thin jaw with a ring of hard cheeks and black beard, like a hard bristle brush. If you count the white-pointed felt hat he wears, the whole person must be more than seven feet tall.

The old official asked a few simple questions, and Cao Poyan answered them one by one. His Tang language is very blunt, just a few words come and go, and there is no smile on his face all the time, not like a businessman at all. The old officer noticed that this guy always unconsciously touched his waist with his right hand when answering. It's a habit of holding a weapon, but it's a pity that now he only has a small empty copper hook on his belt.

For security reasons, all merchants' belongings were confiscated by the gatekeeper when they entered the city, and they were returned when they left the city.

The old official quietly put down the pen and walked around Cao Poyan's caravan. There is no problem with the goods, ordinary goods. The fifteen companions are all Hu people, with tight legs and pointy shoes, and they are all about the same age as Cao Poyan. They each led a camel, silent, but their shoulders tensed slightly.

"These guys are nervous." The old official secretly made a judgment, picked up his pen, and planned to put the word "not" on the pass - which meant that the identity of this caravan was doubtful, and it had to be further investigated by the West City Bureau. But the pen did not fall, but was stopped by a big hand.

The old man looked up and found a man with thick eyebrows and a wide face, smiling at him.

"Cui Liulang?"

This person is a well-known broker in the West Market, with a wide range of contacts, such as going to the goods warehouse, renting a house to find people, and litigation talks, etc., it is not wrong to find him as an intermediary. So although he has no official status, he is quite open on the ground in the West Market.

Cui Liulang smiled and said, "You haven't eaten the morning food yet, right?" I brought you a piece of bread for you, uncle. Then he handed over a steaming flax pastry, decorated with large sesame seeds on the front, and the aroma was fragrant. The old man pinched it and found that a small straight silver collar was deeply pressed on the opposite side of the dough. He secretly weighed it, afraid that if he didn't have two taels, although he couldn't make cash, he could also make a good hairpin for his daughter.

"These friends came to Chang'an for the first time, and many of the rules were not clear, so I asked my husband to be accommodating." Cui Liulang lowered his voice.

The old official hesitated slightly, but still took the bread, and then approved a "listen" at the office and allowed him to enter the market. Cui Liulang crossed his hands in thanks, turned away, and spoke a flurry of Sogdian fluently. Cao Poyan just nodded slightly, neither happy nor excited.

Under the leadership of Cui Liulang, the small camel team entered the West Market along the threshold.

After crossing the threshold, there is a wide intersection heading on, and the four wide alleys to the east, south, west and north are lined with shops on both sides. From silk cloth shops, ironware shops, and porcelain shops to saddle shops, cloth shops, jewelry shops, and musical instrument shops. The roofs of these shops are not the same as those of Chang'an buildings, with flat roofs – not because the merchants are homesick, but because the land is at a premium, and the roofs are flat enough to store more goods.

At this time, the shops had not yet officially opened, but all the shops had already hung their banners high, and the flags were successively displayed, almost covering the entire wide alley. The peach charm that had just been hung on the lintel on Chinese New Year's Eve had not yet been removed, and there were several more lantern bamboo stands of different shapes next to it - all for tonight's lantern parade. At this time, the lantern has not yet been hung, but the smell of festivities has risen to the sky.

"Our Chang'an, there are a total of one hundred and eight squares, the fourteenth street in the north and south, and the eleventh street in the east and west. Each square is surrounded by a wall. Whether you're eating, having fun, talking about business, or staying in a hotel, you have to be in the workshop. Usually at night, you can't come out, and you will be banned at night. But don't worry today, there is a Lantern Festival at night, and the curfew will be relaxed temporarily. Actually, the day of the Shangyuan Festival is tomorrow, but the lantern festival will start tonight......"

Cui Liulang walked while enthusiastically introducing the various stories in Chang'an City to the guests. Cao Poyan glanced left and right, his eyes were always full of vigilance, like an uncooked eagle. Horses and mules neighed, wheels were rustling, and passing caravans were hurrying, and no one paid attention to the small caravan.

The two walked to the middle of the cross street. Cui Liulang stopped: "Where are we going next?" Are you looking for a hostel or do you have a store to connect with? Cao Poyan took out a folded piece of paper from his arms and handed it to him. Cui Liulang was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "It turns out that you have all booked, come, go this way." He straightened his arm, pointed slightly exaggeratedly to the right, and raised his leg forward, followed by the others.

Cao Poyan didn't know that this small action of him and Cui Liulang was fully watched by Wuhou who was looking upstairs not far away.

The watchtower is a wooden black lacquered pavilion that stands in the middle of the West Market, overlooking the movement of the entire market. Upstairs there are Wu Hou, these people have been carefully selected, their eyes are sharp, and they can't hide any movement in the city.

Cui Liulang and Cao Poyan have been closely monitored by the watchtower since they entered the market. Seeing Cui Liulang's gesture, a martial artist straightened up, picked up a solid-colored black flag, waved it three times towards the east, and repeated it three times.

Two flicks of the fingers, another watchtower three hundred paces away on the east side of the watchtower also waved the same black flag; Immediately afterward, the watchtower further east also responded quickly. In this way, the first floor was passed to the first floor, but in a few dozen snaps of the fingers, the message of the black flag had crossed a street, from the West Market to the Guangde Square outside a square in the east.

The northeast corner of Guangdefang is the Jingzhao Mansion Gongfu, and next to it is the Temple of Mercy. In between, there is an inconspicuous side courtyard, which was originally Sun Simiao's former residence, but now all traces of the medicine king are gone, replaced by a solemn atmosphere, and a tall black watchtower is erected in the courtyard, which is much taller than other watchtowers.

Upstairs, Wuhou saw the black flag dancing in the distance, wrote down the color of the flag and the number of waves on a wooden tablet, and quickly threw it to the ground.

Downstairs, a tall and strong Tongchuan had already caught Mu Jian, and ran all the way into a Xuanchang hall thirty paces away. Directly above the main hall, there is a golden black wooden plaque hanging high, on the book "Jing'an Division" three-character regular script, the calligraphy is rich and full, it is Yan Zhenqing's handwriting.

As soon as you enter the hall, the first thing you see is a huge sand table of Chang'an City. The outer Guo city wall pinched by red clay, the wall of the fang market pinched by yellow beeswax, the one hundred and eight squares and twenty-five streets are arranged like a chessboard, and even the winding alleys and canals in the square are all delicate - of course, only the palace city is blank - there is a fourth-order dragon copper leakage clock in the corner of the hall next to it, which is in the same tune as the copper leak in front of the Shuntian Gate.

Overlooking this plate, supplemented by water leakage, such as looking at Chang'an from the clouds, the changes in the situation are clear in the chest.

Next to the sand table, the two officials were watching intently. The old man had white hair, wore a purple robe with a round neck with wide sleeves, and wore a goldfish bag at his waist. The young man's face was round and small, and his youthful aura had not yet faded, but there were already three shallow lines between his eyebrows, which was obviously overthinking. He wore a narrow-sleeved green robe, a silverfish bag hanging from his waist, and a Taoist whisk in his hand.

Tong Chuan ran to the two officials, holding a simple chant, and the loud voice resounded in the hall: "The wolf has entered the West Market, and it has passed the cross street!" ”

The officials were silent, and a beautiful maid beside her took a step forward, picked up a moon stick for playing polo, and pushed a black pottery figurine in the sand table from the street outside the West Market to the city, which coincided with the position of Cui Liulang and Cao Poyan.

There was a moment of silence in the hall, and the young man spoke first to inquire: "Eunuch He? After asking a few times, the old man opened his eyes: "Changyuan, how did you arrange it?" ”

The young man smiled slightly, and pointed to the sand table with a whisk: "Cui Qi personally led the team, and fifty brigades have been arranged in the West City." As soon as Liulang got the news, Cui Qi immediately broke down the door and arrested people. On the periphery, there are more than 100 bad people from Chang'an County guarding the alleys; There are two gates in the west market, and the guards can be closed at any time. Surrounded by three iron barriers, there is no reason for this fang to escape. ”

With the guidance of the dust, the maid quickly put down a vermilion pottery figurine. On the sand table, the red figurines surrounded the black figurines in an instant, impenetrable.

"These wolf cubs thought that they would be able to hide from the world by pretending to be Sogdian merchants, but they didn't know that we were fishing from beginning to end. With a mind to calculate without a heart, how can there be a reason to be invincible? The young man withdrew the dust, his chin slightly raised, and he looked confident. The old man let out an "um" and closed his eyes again, noncommittal.

Every hour, a loud voice would run in from outside, reporting the latest movements of Cui Liulang and Cao Poyan.

"The wolf passed the Fan Ji saddle shop and headed northwest of the cross street!"

"The wolf passed the Ruyi new silk shop, and turned right into the second round!"

"The wolf crossed the three bridges of Guangtong Canal and turned into the left lane of the single willow tree."

The maid held a moon scepter and kept moving the figurines to the corresponding position. Cao Poyan's walking trajectory was vividly presented in front of the two principals: the caravan was moving farther and farther away from the prosperous place, gradually approaching the single willow tree in the southwest of the city.

The single willow tree is a place for the West Market to kill criminals, and the merchants are unlucky, and there are many people who are far away, and there are fewer and fewer people around.

The young man tilted his head slightly: "Director Xu, what buildings are there nearby?" ”

Behind the two officials, surrounded by more than a dozen stacks of papers, dozens of low-ranking officials were busy with their heads. A slightly chubby middle-aged scribe heard the call, quickly put down the scroll in his hand and ran to the sand table. His eyesight was not very good, and he had to lean forward to the edge to see where the figurines were.

Director Xu thought for a while, and immediately replied as if reciting a book: "Northeast Lane, the terrain is low and wet, and there are only sixteen warehouses, which are connected to the Guangtong Canal. In the fifteenth year of Kaiyuan, there was a heavy rainstorm, the water in the canal soared, and the inventory of the three Hu merchants was destroyed, and the price was 5,000 yuan...... "His memory is quite amazing, and he replied casually, without suffocation.

The young man interrupted his chatter: "These sixteen warehouses, are there exits nearby?" ”

"Oh, no, but ......"

At this moment, Tongchuan broke into the main hall again and interrupted him: "The wolf entered the Bingliu warehouse and did not come out!" ”

The atmosphere in the hall was suddenly stirred up by this message, and everyone's eyes were turned to the sand table.

"This is it!" The young man's eyes lit up, "Summoning Cui Qi, prepare for action; The bad guys immediately cleared the perimeter of the warehouse and did not allow anyone to enter or leave. The second gate of the West Market is on standby at any time. Short and powerful commands came out of his mouth, and there was excitement in his tone.

He gave the order and left the temple as quickly as possible. The young man supported the edge of the sand table with his arms, leaned forward, looked at the black terracotta figurine, and muttered to himself:

"I want to see what these Turkic wolf cubs want to do when they come to Chang'an City."

The order was uploaded from the main hall of the Jing'an Division to the watchtower. Then, through a series of flags, it quickly crossed the street and returned to the watchtower on the north side of the West Market. Wu Hou copied the flag on the wooden tablet and threw it downstairs, while shouting: "Lvshuai Cui, take the order!" ”

Before Mu Jian could hit the ground, he was firmly pinched by a large hand.

The man who grabbed Mu Jian was a tall, bearded man with arms as thick as a beam. He took the wooden tablet, quickly glanced at the order above, and immediately turned around and shouted, "All assemble!" ”

From the barn beside him, fifty soldiers of the brigade rushed out. They were all dressed in inky infantry armor, armed with crossbows, and uncircled horizontal swords hanging from their waists, and ten of them also carried longbows cross-body. During the entire procession, no one spoke, only the sound of dull footsteps and breathing was heard.

Cui Qi glanced around with a gloomy face: "The target is in the C6 warehouse, first surround and then fight, try to keep alive." Be clever for a while, and no one should embarrass the brigade army! With that, he waved his hand and ran outside. The soldiers, in a line of five, followed closely the commander, trotting at first and then running at a rapid pace.

They skimmed through the cross streets, burrowed into the winding alleys, and headed towards the south square of the West Market. The merchants along the street were horrified when they saw that the street was suddenly dusty and so many soldiers had run past. Before they could talk to each other, a large number of unscrupulous people came up and demanded that the shops close their doors temporarily, and that the pedestrians on the street were invited to rest in the nearby shops, and no one was allowed to leave.

At the east and west entrances of the West Market, the gatekeepers lifted the stone latch from the pit and could close the gate at any time.

The cobwebs weaved layer by layer, and a sharp arrow pierced straight away.

After entering the range of the No. C warehouse, Cui Qi made a few gestures, and the brigade army, which had already had a tacit understanding, divided into three directions and quietly approached the C6 warehouse, and the bad guys had quietly blocked all the nearby roads. There were only a few caravans of horses and livestock tethered here in this area, and three or two men watched. There are bad people who come over, negotiate a few words, and pull the cattle away.

At this point, the C6 warehouse is completely isolated from the West Market.

Cui Qi half-squatted at the corner of an earthen wall near the Bingliu Inn, took off the heart guard on his chest, hung it on the head of the horizontal knife, and carefully stretched it outward. With the reflection of the goggles, he didn't have to look to see what was ahead.

The C6 Warehouse is a wooden building with pressed eaves, 60 steps long and 45 steps wide, almost square, with only one entrance, and ventilation windows on all sides, but it is very small and not allowed for adults to pass. Because this area is close to a canal, it is easy to be flooded in summer, so the bottom of the building is suspended and supported by sixteen wooden columns, which is somewhat similar to the Lingnan architectural style.

There was a big-nosed bearded man guarding the door, who was one of Cao Poyan's fifteen companions. He leaned his back against the wooden door, and from time to time he lowered his head to play with a string of wooden beads on his wrist, looking absent-minded. Cui Qi estimated the distance of the crossbow arrow, and if he really wanted to do it, he was confident that he could break through the door within ten snaps of his fingers.

Cui Ji set his eyes on the entrance and held his breath. Everything is ready, just wait for the movement in the warehouse.

In the warehouse, separated from the outside world by a wooden wall, Cao Poyan stood with his arms in his hands against the corner of the house, facing the entrance. He had taken off his white-tipped felt hat, revealing a thick black braid. The others spread out between the shelves, talking in whispers, but not in Sogdian but in Turkic — of course, as Cui Liulang stood by the window, looking completely incomprehensible.

Cui Liulang rubbed his hands and smiled: "Gong Cao, who found this place for you?" It's very humid here, and there are no restaurants nearby, so why don't I arrange another one for you? ”

Cao Poyan replied coldly as if he hadn't heard the question: "Do the right thing." ”

Cui Liulang was not embarrassed: "Okay, good." What the hell are you looking for me to do, can you say it now? ”

Cao Poyan snapped his fingers, and the two companions walked over and spread a roll of cloth on the ground, which was unfolded to a wide square size. Then they took out a little wolf, an ink ingot, and an inkstone. Cui Liulang was stunned, I don't know what this means, is it possible to open a scientific examination for poetry?

When he looked at the hard yellow cloth again, he couldn't help but gasp. There are countless squares densely drawn on the cloth, and the ink lines are vertical and horizontal, which is the one hundred and eight squares of Chang'an City. However, the map is too sketchy, and it only outlines the outline and name of the city.

"This thing is only collected in the secret palace of the imperial city, and the people who have it privately are hidden, but it is a big crime to kill the head!"

Cao Poyan's eyes narrowed: "...... You don't dare to pick it up? ”

Cui Liulang laughed, took a step back and sat cross-legged on the ground: "If I don't dare, I won't take you into the West Market." Rich and dangerous, how many people who do my job take the Datang Law Order seriously? Come on, pen and ink waiting, what do you want to mark? ”

"I want you to mark all the hidden doors, culverts, sandwich wall passages and other key points on this Chang'an Fang map." Cao Poyan said word by word.

Cui Liulang agreed, and his mind was spinning rapidly. The interior of Chang'an City is intricate, but it is not as simple as 25 roads and streets. There are water and land channels between the squares, there are sandwich walls between the city walls, there are ditches under the bridges, and there are ridges beside the slopes.

If you have such a full map in hand, most of the virtual and real things in Chang'an City can be controlled, and you can come and go freely. It seems that these Turks are not small...

One person took out the skin, poured some water on the inkstone, and worked for a while to develop a shallow pile of ink. Cui Liulang licked the tip of the wolf's pen, dipped it in ink, drew a few strokes, and suddenly stopped: "Cao Gong, you are not from the Central Plains, and you are not familiar with cloth." This cloth, no. This is called hard yellow cloth, which is suitable for making clothes, but the ink is slightly sluggish. Why don't I go buy some rice paper and come back......"

"You can't leave." Cao Poyan categorically vetoed it.

Cui Liulang shook his head, picked up the pen and began to sketch. As soon as he finished filling in a corner of Chang'an City, he raised his eyes again and said: "Chang'an City is too big, if you paint everything in every detail, you won't be able to finish it in three days and three nights." Cao Gong, what are you using this picture for? I know it in my heart, and I will naturally have a detailed plan when I write it. ”

Cao Poyan said: "This has nothing to do with you. ”

Cui Liulang spread his hands: "You want me to fill in the whole map of Chang'an City in two hours, but you don't even want to say what to do - sorry, I can't draw it." ”

Cao Poyan couldn't help but be furious when he heard this string of words, stepped in front of Cui Liulang, and stretched out his hand to strangle his throat.

Cui Liulang hesitated for a moment and did not dodge. He knew that Jing'an's people were outside, and with a shout, none of these Turks could escape. But in that case, all the previous hard work will be wasted. He bet that Cao Poyan is just bluffing now, and he won't really start if he doesn't get the map.

With a little more deception, you can figure out their true purpose.

Cao Poyan's hand on Cui Liulang's throat suddenly stopped, and Cui Liulang's heart was relieved, knowing that he had made the right bet. Cao Poyan maintained this posture, and his head suddenly tilted towards the window, as if he was listening. Cui Liulang was a little nervous, could it be that the people in the brigade were careless and made the noise? He hurriedly asked, "Gong Cao, what's wrong?" ”

"Did you hear anything?" Cao Poyan pointed out the window.

Cui Liulang listened, and there was silence outside. He shook his head a little dazedly: "Nothing." ”

"Yes, nothing." Cao Poyan showed a hideous smile that only a steppe wolf has, and his fingers suddenly exerted force, "When I entered the door just now, there were obviously many cattle tied up nearby, and it was very lively, but now there is not even a horse roar." ”

As soon as he heard this, Cui Liulang's face suddenly changed color, first because of panic, and then because of suffocation.

Cui Qi waited outside, feeling more and more uneasy. There was no movement over there, but he just felt that something was wrong. As a veteran, this instinct of his is often accurate.

He poked the goggles out with his knife again, this time aimed at the window of the C6 warehouse. The window was so small that I could barely see a figure swaying in the mirror. Suddenly, a figure disappeared in front of the window, and at the same time there was a "thump", and it seemed that something heavy had fallen to the ground.

Not good! Cui Qi's heart suddenly stopped, he suddenly withdrew the horizontal knife, and shouted eagerly to the surroundings: "Break the door!" Fast! ”

The brigade was already ready in their respective positions, and with one order, eight crossbow arrows were fired from three directions at once, nailing the Turks guarding the gate into a hedgehog. At the same time, two soldiers slammed up the wooden steps in front of the door, swept past the limp of the enemy, and slammed their thick shoulders against the door.

The bamboo pivot could not withstand the pressure and burst in an instant. With a bang, the soldier's body fell inside, along with the door panel. Behind them, two other soldiers did not hesitate to step over their companion's body and rush into the house. The crossbow in his hand aimed at the room and shot a round, then quickly lowered down. By this time, the two soldiers lying on the ground had already turned over and lifted the door panel to form a makeshift wooden shield, which was guarded by their companions, and gave them time to wind their crossbow arrows.

This sequence of movements is so fluid that it seems to have been rehearsed countless times.

The nearest Turks screamed and pounced, and suddenly fell to the ground again, screaming in pain. Three longbows were fired in the distance of the inn, and the two-foot-long iron arrow pierced their thighs through the narrow window of the inn with precision.

This round of offensive bought more than enough time. More soldiers rushed into the warehouse, raising their crossbows and shouting as they went, "Get down! Don't kill! ”

But as if they didn't understand, the Turks pounced out of the corners of the shelves one after another. They chanted the Khan's name and rushed over with their bare hands. For the soldiers of the brigade army, these people were simply live targets, and for a while, the warehouse was filled with the muffled sound of metal entering the flesh and the screams of people.

The soldiers were not in a hurry to advance, they moved slowly forward in groups of three, covering each other. The slightest appearance of the Turks will immediately be shot by several shots*.

The soldiers were instructed to keep as many holes alive as possible, so they tried to aim for non-vital parts. But these desperate steppe wolves are not afraid of death, and even if they have only one breath left, they will try to fight back. Several soldiers hesitated for a moment because they could not kill the killer, but they were injured and even killed in a sneak attack. Even if they are unable to fight back, those Turks will immediately commit suicide without hesitation.

Soon silence returned to the house, leaving only corpses lying in the hallway and wooden shelves. After paying the price of three soldiers killed in battle, the brigade army finally took control of the entire warehouse.

The soldiers did not let their guard down and cautiously searched from shelf to shelf. Suddenly, a Turk who had been lying on the ground jumped up and pounced on the nearest soldier. The soldier was caught off guard and was stopped by him and embraced, and the two became entangled. The Turk opened his mouth and bit the soldier's nose, but his movements froze and he fell to the ground with a crossbow bolt stuck in the back of his head.

At the end of the aisle, a fellow soldier held the air*, his arm slowly drooping, his eyes flustered. He was supposed to let the Turks live, but what happened to his comrades made him forget the instructions.

"Stupid! How I taught you! ”

Cui Qi snatched the soldier's *, and raised his hand to slap him. His swarthy face seemed to be painted a leaden gray, dull and dull.

It only took ten snaps of fingers to break the door, and the total destruction of the enemy was within twenty-six snaps of fingers, which was an outstanding achievement among the guards in the capital. But the Turks are so fierce that they don't have a single living mouth, which is not the result that the boss wants.

Cui Qi paced down the aisle angrily, his eyes sweeping over the corpses, his fingers clenching uneasily and releasing the hilt. Suddenly, he was stunned for a moment, and then walked two steps quickly, and in front of him was Cui Liulang's body.

His eyes were wide open, and there were obvious finger marks on his neck, and he knew that he had been strangled without examination.

"Brother!"

Cui Ji let out a tiger roar in grief and indignation, kneeling on the floor on one leg, trying to lean over to hug the deceased. The two have similar eyebrows and eyes, they are siblings, but unfortunately one of them will never be able to open his eyes.

"If only I could order three flicks of my fingers earlier...... If I can break down the door myself......" Remorse gnawed at Cui Qi's heart like an ant, his fingers trembled violently, and he could barely hold his brother's hand.

A soldier from the brigade ran over, and when he saw the appearance of the commander, he didn't dare to approach. Cui Qi turned his head and asked him what was the matter with his eyes. The soldier hurriedly stood up: "After counting the corpses just now, there are fifteen in total." ”

Except for Cui Liulang, a total of sixteen Turks entered the warehouse. In other words, there is still one person who has not been caught, and after identification, it should be Cao Poyan, who should be the leader. Cui Qi took a sharp breath and stood up again, fire dancing in his eyes.

"Search!" He shouted with a calm face.

The warehouse is not a house, it is a large open room with no partitions, and only a few wooden shelves in the middle. Cui Qi walked around the warehouse a few times and didn't find anything unusual. Such a frank and swinging place, which can be seen through at a glance, where can he hide? Could it be that this guy can do some kind of Western Regions demon law, and he can't pass through the wall?

Cui Qi suddenly felt a little cold on the top of his head, he stopped, raised his head suddenly, and his pupils contracted in an instant. Directly above him, there was a well-mouth-sized wooden lid with a slight skew to reveal a clear blue sky.

There's actually a vent here!

The top of the C6 warehouse is a corniced structure, so no one thought that there would be a vent on the roof - normally, only flat-roofed houses have such a design.

This is probably the opening secretly opened by a previous user and was not reported to the West City Department. Cui Qi scolded hatefully, ordered someone to bring a ladder, and then loaded * with a crossbow arrow with the arrow removed. The fury did not make Cui Qi lose his mind, this is the last person, and he must stay alive, otherwise the whole plan will be over.

Now the warehouse is surrounded by brigade soldiers, and even if Cao Poyan goes to the roof, there is still no way out, which is almost equivalent to catching a turtle in an urn.

Cui Qi was afraid that there would be any more omissions, so he personally climbed the ladder and climbed towards the top. Climbing to the top, Cui Qi was about to push open the wooden cover, when he suddenly felt a murderous aura. He hurriedly shrank his head, and a bar of hardwood embedded with iron nails flew past his scalp. He didn't say a word, and raised his hand to be a crossbow. Poof, as if something had been stabbed. Cui Qi was overjoyed, and climbed up with his hands and feet, but he was unexpectedly hit in his left eye by a belt.

This belt is made of cooked cowhide, and the texture is extremely hard, which makes Cui Qi dizzy with severe pain. There was a small copper hook on his waistband, and when he pulled it back, he made a long bloody cut on his cheek. This attack aroused Cui Qi's bravery, he did not retreat but advanced, pulled his belt with his backhand, pulled it hard, and rushed to the roof.

Before he could stand firm, he felt his belt loosen, and it was obvious that the other party had let go of his hand. Cui Qi suddenly lost his balance and swung his arms desperately, and finally regained his footing. At that moment, he heard a series of clicks of footsteps on the tiles, and then jumped up with a clatter, and then a dull clicking sound was heard in the distance, and then the sound of rushing water.

There was something strange about the sound, it didn't look like it had fallen on the ground. Cui Qi was in a hurry, his left eye was swollen and painful, and he couldn't see clearly, but his brain was still clear. He realized that he had made a huge mistake.

Next to the C6 warehouse, there is a wide canal close to the wall of the workshop. This canal was widened a year ago to transport timber from the Qinling Mountains, so the canal is deep and watery, and it is wide enough for boats. At this time, it was in the first lunar month, the canal had not yet thawed, and it was covered with a thin layer of ice, as smooth as Suzaku Avenue, and the water gate did not have any deployment—Cui Qi's previous arrangement, patronizing the landing route, actually ignored this matter.

What he heard was the sound of Cao Poyan crashing into the ice and falling into the water.

After the Guangtong Canal flows out of the West Market, it connects the Yongan Canal and the Qingming Canal, and further away it is also connected to the Longshou Canal and the Gong Canal, and there are more than 30 Li Fangs flowing through, spanning most of the urban area - in other words, as long as Cao Poyan dives and swims through the West City Water Gate, he can easily get out of the encirclement and go ashore anywhere in the city.

Cui Qi wanted to slap himself, this mistake was too stupid.

In desperation, he also jumped towards the canal, but he forgot that he was wearing heavy bright light armor, and as soon as his feet touched the ice, the ice broke with a click, directly dragging the brigade commander to the bottom.

Before entering the water, his right eye could barely see a splash of water speeding towards the water gate.

Between the canal and the warehouse, there is a high embankment wall. It took a lot of time for the soldiers of the brigade to get around from the other end, and then they took off their armor and went into the water, and dragged the commander ashore with all their hands and feet. With such a delay, Cao Poyan had already disappeared at the other end of the water gate.

Cui Qi was rescued on the embankment, lying on his stomach and spitting ice water, his face was pale. In his hand, he also held a cowhide belt with a copper hook on it.

This is the only takeaway from the whole operation.

The atmosphere in the hall of Jing'an Division was as solemn as mercury, and every member of the team was light and did not dare to make a sound, for fear of annoying the two displeased chiefs.

No one expected that a chase would actually make the cooked duck fly. The raid was perfect, but it was pointless, and there wasn't even a single living left.

Cui Qi knelt in front of the hall on one leg, his body was so wet that he couldn't wipe it, and the water drippeds on the floor into an irregular water mark. After Cao Poyan fled, he was urgently recalled to Jing'an Division. The boss was anxious to figure out what went wrong, and the Wanglou Banner couldn't deliver too complicated news, so he could only make a trip himself.

Facing Jing'an Ling and Jing'an Sicheng, Cui Qi didn't dare to hide it, knelt on the ground and told the whole process one by one, and then lowered his head and waited for the trial. The old man flicked his sleeves and let out a long sigh: "Originally, I invited you into the urn, but it became a ...... to lure wolves into the room."

Everyone knows the gravity of this statement. That Cao Poyan had shown ferocity, cunning, and extreme instantaneous strain just now. Such a scheming Turkic broke into Chang'an City on the eve of the Shangyuan Festival, and no one could imagine what would happen next.

What's even worse is that this wolf can almost be said to have been brought in all the way by Jing'an Division, and if this responsibility is investigated, no one can bear it.

"The lowly has sent people to search and arrest along the canal." Cui Qi cautiously added, hoping to dilute a little of the shame of dereliction of duty.

The young man blushed his face and waved the dust: "What is the matter with this little person!" Do you know how long the canals of Guangtong, Yong'an, Qingming, and Longshou are? Go and transfer out the Wuhou and Lishou of the street shops, close the squares, and search them for me one by one! ”

"Changyuan, the dust is not used to smash people." The old man raised his palm and stopped him gently but resolutely, "I have only blocked the West Market for half an hour, and I am already suspected of overstepping the rules. If you come to the city once, the entire Chang'an City will be disturbed - today is the Shangyuan Festival Lantern Festival, and now there are lights everywhere on the street. You make a lot of noise, and even the saints have to ask about it. ”

The young man also argued: "Eunuch He doesn't do anything, but he doesn't know!" Cao Poyan's sixteen people were only the last to enter the city, and more of their henchmen had already hidden in the city. If we don't find out the intentions of the Turks as soon as possible, I'm afraid that there will be a catastrophe in this Chang'an City! ”

His tone was almost rude. But the old man was not angry, he stretched out a finger and nodded in the northeast direction—that was where Miyagi was: "I didn't say that I would ignore it, but it is absolutely impossible to openly search and arrest him, and he must not cause trouble to that one." ”

As soon as the old man mentioned "that one", the young man's eyes darkened. He pondered for a moment, and then burst out with even more blazing fire: "Since Eunuch He thinks that the table cannot be moved, what if I only dispatch a small number of elites to secretly capture the thief?" ”

For this suggestion, the old man stroked his beard and seemed to be undecided.

As soon as Cui Qi heard this, he suddenly raised his head and said loudly: "Cui Qi knows that he has made a big mistake, and he doesn't ask for forgiveness, he just wants to be able to kill the enemy and avenge his brother!" "Today's defeat, he made mistakes again and again, if he does not fight the banner of blood and revenge, he will be guilty, but I am afraid that the end will be worrying.

But the young and the old shook their heads at the same time.

Chang'an is home to nearly a million residents, and it is a complex vortex of light and darkness. Cui Qi only came to Chang'an half a year ago, and it was no problem to go into battle to kill the enemy, but it was unrealistic to expect him to shuttle through the city to find people.

Jing'an Division brings together elites from all over the world, including capable old officials who are proficient in the city's easy money and grain, chief clerks who have never forgotten, fierce and brave soldiers, and even a group of Hu people who are well versed in Hu Qing - now there is only a lack of an old hound who can wander in the shadows of Chang'an and has a keen sense of smell.

Originally, they had a most suitable candidate, Cui Qi's brother Cui Liulang, but unfortunately he had died in his duties. Cui Qi knew what the chief was sorry for, his eyes turned red, and he smashed his fist on the ground, which actually smashed the bricks and opened a small gap.

After a moment of silence, the old man picked up the hat on the side table, put it on properly, and tied the bag and handkerchief around his waist. The young man was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked Supervisor He where he was going. The old man sighed: "The palace attaches great importance to the Turkic wolf guard, and today's incident will not be hidden for long. I will enter the palace and try to delay for a few hours, during this period, Changyuan, you had better come up with a countermeasure to make up for your previous mistakes, otherwise ......" The old man lowered his eyebrows and did not speak.

The young man's shoulders drooped slightly, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time he felt disdain. This old fellow is slippery, and when he sees that things are going wrong, he finds an excuse to leave, and refuses to take any responsibility for making a decision—he can go this way, so as not to tie himself up.

Now that a moment is worth a thousand dollars, he doesn't have much time to spend on dealing with his own people.

The young man sent the old man to the wall, and then turned back to the hall, his expression was obviously much more relaxed. He sternly glanced at Cui Qi, who was still kneeling at the bottom of the steps, and flicked the sleeves of his robe: "At an extraordinary time, the punishment will be postponed for the time being." Don't slack off! ”

Cui Qi's face was solemn, and he retreated. He knew that the old man surnamed He was just in name, and the one who was really in charge of Jing'an Si and his own life was the young man named Li Mi in front of him. Don't look at this Shangguan's young age, his methods are really sharp, and he is decisive in killing, and the entire Jing'an Division has been trained by him to be obedient.

After disposing of Cui Qi, Li Mi knocked on the corner of the case and called all the heads of all the departments over: "Think about it now, what suitable person can replace Cui Liulang?" - Remember, I want the best. ”

The principals of the hall fell into deep thought, and none of them said a word. There are only four hours before the Lantern Festival, and it is almost impossible to find Cao Poyan before that. If this errand is done well, it may not be beneficial; If you do it poorly, you will become a scapegoat, and even the recommender will be unlucky.

Li Mi saw his subordinates cowering, and was about to open his mouth to reprimand, when suddenly his eyes froze, and he raised his hand when he saw that the eyesighted Master Xu hesitated. He knew that this person's name was Xu Bin, who was originally a scholar in the household department, had a good memory, and never forgot to read the papers, so he was transferred to Jing'an Division as the director, but he had a slight stutter. Li Mi raised his chin and motioned for him to speak.

Director Xu hesitated for a moment and said, "Hey...... There is a candidate in the downfall, I don't know if it is to your liking. ”

"Speak!"

"He's a friend of mine, called ...... Hey, it's called Zhang Xiaojing. In the past, he was a chief in the Anxi Protectorate Army, and later Xu Gong was transferred back to Chang'an and served as a bad marshal in Wannian County for nine years. I think maybe it's in line with Li Sicheng's intentions......"

"Oh?" Li Mi's eyes narrowed.

This resume is simple to say, but it is not ordinary to think about it. The bad marshal is the deputy of the county lieutenant who catches thieves, the top official in the foreign officials, and is in charge of arresting thieves and public security. It is very rare for a small chief of the capital to be the bad handsome of a county, not to mention that this is not an ordinary county, it is a Wannian county.

Chang'an is divided into two counties, east and west, with Chang'an County in the west and Wannian County in the east. This Wannian County is at the foot of the Son of Heaven, most of the princes and nobles live here, and the relationship is intertwined, this person can actually do it steadily for nine years, Li Mi suddenly became a little interested.

"Where are the others now?"

"Oops...... He committed a crime last year, and now he is in prison in Chang'an County, and he is awaiting execution. Xu Bin pondered the words. The people around whispered, was Director Xu confused, how did he recommend a prisoner? Or a death row inmate? Isn't this a bad touch on the boss?

Who knew that Li Mi was expressionless: "What I want is not a saint, but a capable person - is this person the best?" ”

Xu Bin hurriedly raised his voice: "In Chang'an, there is no one to arrest and arrest thieves. ”

A silverfish bag swept through the air, Xu Bin hurriedly reached out to catch it, and almost didn't catch it. Li Mi said: "Use my horse to pick it up." In two moments, I'm going to see that man here. ”

Xu Bin was stunned for a moment before he understood what the chief meant. He first tied the whitebait bag around his waist, but felt that it was inappropriate, so he quickly untied it and held it in his hand, and hurriedly ran out of the hall.

Li Mi looked around and found that everyone else was looking out with their necks stretched, and couldn't help but be angry: "What are you still looking at there?" Check it out for me right away! The status of the two cities in the east and west, the inspection records of the city gate supervisors, and the news reports of the street shops everywhere have all been thoroughly checked for me, quickly! ”

The officials of the Jing'an Division hurriedly returned to their seats one after another, buried themselves in their work, and the palace was busy again. Li Mi took a piece of boiling water scalded flower brocade from the maidservant beside him, rubbed it on his face vigorously, suddenly remembered something, and said: "Yao Runeng, you go to Jingzhao Mansion and transfer Zhang Xiaojing's color injection experience." ”

A young official immediately got up and galloped out.

Li Mi tore off the chest of his outer robe, propped his arms next to the sand table, leaned forward, and continued to overlook the sand table of Chang'an City. His piercing eyes scanned each building, as if trying to rip out the wolf alive with his gaze.

The copper leak in the corner of the temple, and the water droplets are still dripping calmly. No matter how urgent the world is, it never changes.

Deserts, ruins, and the strong smell of blood.

Countless black riders galloped back and forth in the distance. On the long river in the distance, a round blood-colored sunset; In the lonely city, the wolf smoke is piercing straight into the dusky sky.

He struggled to straighten up and shouted angrily. But the walls were surrounded by mountains of corpses, and no one stood up to answer his call. Only a broken dragon flag hung at the head of the city, and the flagpole was crooked, almost breaking and folding.

Knock knock, the enemy's attacking drums sounded, and the bone arrows were dense like flying locusts. This time, he was the only one who faced ......

Zhang Xiaojing woke up suddenly, only to realize that he was not in the Western Regions, but on death row in Chang'an County. The shackles were firmly locked around his neck and hands, and he couldn't even move when he woke up from his dream.

The sound of the war drums in the dream turned out to be someone beating the wooden sill with the handle of the whip. He lifted his eyelids and saw two men standing in front of the cell door, one of them was a section on death row; There was also a man with a narrow face and short eyebrows, five long messy strands of hair on his chin, and a concerned look in his eyes.

"Xu Bin Xu Youde?" Zhang Xiaojing was slightly stunned, and then smiled, "I didn't expect that it was you who came to see him off in the end." Between the words, I couldn't hear the slightest loss of soul before the execution.

Xu Bin knew that he had misunderstood, but it was not easy to explain, so he arched his hand and said, "Please open the prison door and remove the shackles." The section puffed out two slightly bulging eyes, like an unwilling toad. But when he swept the silverfish bag that Xu Bin was holding in his right hand, he flinched again, so he had to take out the key, unlock the lock with a bang, and let the two cell heads unload the flail.

The two cell bosses trembled, and seemed to be in awe of Zhang Xiaojing, so nervous that they couldn't break the shackles. Zhang Xiaojing snorted coldly: "Stupid, this is a three-twisted snake lock, the thumb has to be pulled from below, and the middle is hard." The cell boss complied, and with a click, the shackles finally broke in two. The two of them each held a piece and stood away in a hurry. Zhang Xiaojing glanced at the section level with his residual light. The latter shuddered and quickly avoided his gaze.

Zhang Xiaojing is not tall, but he is as strong as a rock of Mount Tai, with a slightly convex forehead and two short black eyebrows. He shook his sore wrist, looked around to the left and right, and said loudly, "Where is the food and drink?" The county buys severed head wine, and the standard is 500 yuan, so you don't want to deduct it. ”

The people around him avoided it like a plague and didn't talk to him. Xu Bin bent down into the prison, grabbed his arm, and whispered, "Someone wants to see you......"

"Huh?"

Zhang Xiaojing looked surprised. It turns out that Xu Bin is not here to see off the end, but to fish for people? But he is a good gentleman, where did he get the magic power to save people from death row?

Xu Bin didn't explain too much, but just urged the section level to hurry up and go through the formalities. Soon Xu sent down a document and asked Xu Bin to sign it. Zhang Xiaojing looked at the side cover of the document and knew that this was not a pardon, but a document for transferring prisoners, which was generally used in Dali Temple or the Criminal Department to transfer prisoners from the county prison - these two promotions would not remove the prisoners first.

Zhang Xiaojing was suspicious in his heart, but this was not the time to ask, he remained silent.

Xu Binlong signed his name in a flying dance, and then the group left the gloomy death row and returned to the ground. Sunlight shines through the entrance, creating a striking contrast of light and dark on the final steps. Zhang Xiaojing stepped on the last step and suddenly stopped, with a little emotion on his face.

This level is the boundary between yin and yang. He had the heart to die, but he didn't expect to turn around from the ghost gate and come back inexplicably.

I don't know if it's good or bad next, but I took a good look at the sunshine, and it's worth it!

Zhang Xiaojing walked to a well as if no one was around, which was somewhat unruly, but the prisoners around him stood far away, and no one was drinking. Zhang Xiaojing's iron pincer-like hands alternately dragged the well rope, and soon hit a bucket of well water with ice ballast. He raised the bucket and poured ice water on his head, causing him to shiver comfortably, sweeping away the filth and malaise of the dungeon.

Zhang Xiaojing put down the bucket, raised his head high, and the ice water dripped down his hairlocks, faintly exuding a fierce momentum from his body. The sun was blazing, and the golden sun shone down in his left eye socket. There were no eyes there, only a deep old scar, which was extremely fierce in the sun.

"Lang Lang, don't come unharmed."

He raised his fist and swung it hard into the sky. At that moment, the light and shadow shook, and the side face like a knife and axe was as hideous as King Kong.

After completing the promotion procedures, Xu Bin hurriedly took Zhang Xiaojing out of the Chang'an County Public Mansion. Xu Bin was so anxious that he didn't even have time to let him change his prison uniform. There are two Liangzhou hussars in front of the tethered stone in front of the public house, and there is a striking tortoiseshell belt in front of the forehead of the horse, which means that the two horses can gallop on any street, even the royal road on Suzaku Street, without being restricted by the "Ritual Order".

The two stepped on each horse, and Zhang Xiaojing asked, "Where to go?" Xu Bin replied: "Hey, let's go back to Jing'an Division in Guangdefang." He glanced at the sundial in front of the tooth gate: "Gotta get there as soon as possible, well, gotta hurry, gotta run for a quarter and a half." ”

"Arrive in a moment." Zhang Xiaojing swept the horse's ears with his ring finger, and the horse's sensitive reaction made him very satisfied.

Chang'an Waiguo is separated by Zhuque Street, the east is under the jurisdiction of Wannian County, the west is under the jurisdiction of Chang'an County, and the prison of Chang'an County is located in Yongda Fang in Xicheng. If you want to arrive in a moment, you must gallop without delay.

The two of them whipped up the street and galloped away. Two tall horses rushed onto the road, and both pedestrians and shoulders on the street avoided for fear of colliding. Xu Bin's riding skills were obviously inferior to Zhang Xiaojing, and he was almost lying on the back of the horse, clutching the reins with both hands, quite embarrassed.

Zhang Xiaojing slowed down a little, was on par with Xu Bin, and slanted with one eye: "Brother Youde, what's going on?" ”

Xu Bin barely controlled his riding posture, took a breath, and then spoke: "It was Jing'an Division who fished you out." ”

"Yasuyashi?" Zhang Xiaojing was slightly surprised, he was familiar with the Chang'an government system, but he had never heard of this name.

Xu Bin explained: "The Jing'an Division is the newly established official office of the imperial court, and it is the official office of the entire Western Capital that oversees the thieves and defenses of the entire Western Capital - this is all after you enter - they are now recruiting talents, so I recommend you." ”

Zhang Xiaojing raised his eyebrows. The street envoys of Jin Wuwei, the patrol envoys of Yushitai, and the thieves of Chang'an and Wannian counties are responsible for the security of Chang'an City, forcing the imperial court to set up a new bureau to deal with it?

Xu Bin continued: "The person in charge of Jing'an Division is called Li Yu, and the word Changyuan. He waited for Zhao Hanlin to know Jing An Sicheng. It was Li Sicheng who wanted to see you. ”

Zhang Xiaojing hissed, and his suspicions increased, which was even more abnormal. The duty of the Jing'an Division is to "plan and prevent thieves", and the general affairs are bound to be complicated. Let an idle and innocent civil official like Zhao Hanlin take charge of catching thieves? Isn't this nonsense?

Zhang Xiaojing searched for the name in his mind, and suddenly remembered: "Could it be ...... Is that chess prodigy? ”

Xu Bin nodded meaningfully.

In the thirteenth year of Kaiyuan, a seven-year-old prodigy named Li Mi entered the palace for Hajj. The Son of Heaven is playing chess with Zhongshu Ling Zhang. The Son of Heaven ordered Zhang Shuo and Li Mi to chant chess with the theme of "Fang Yuan Movement". Zhang Shuo wrote: "The square is like a chess game, and the circle is like a chess piece." Movement is like chess life, quiet is like chess death. And Li Mi said: "Fang is like doing righteousness, and circle is like using wisdom." Movement is like talent, quiet is like satisfaction. He was greatly appreciated by the Son of Heaven and sent him to the East Palace to accompany the prince to study.

Now counted, Li Mi is twenty-six years old, and it is the time for ambition to emerge. Jing'an Si Cheng is humble and powerful, and he can accumulate general service qualifications, which is a perfect promotion level. Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaojing scraped his left eye socket with his little thumb, and smiled: "Li Sicheng is so thirsty for talent, it seems that Jing'an Si is in big trouble, right?" He always spoke with a faint hint of sarcasm.

Xu Bin turned his gaze away a little embarrassed, his friend's eyes were too poisonous, but his speech was too straight, the combination of these two characteristics was really unbearable.

"I'm sorry, I can't say that yet. Oops...... Li Sicheng will tell you later. ”

Zhang Xiaojing laughed: "Okay, don't ask." It doesn't matter what happens, no matter how miserable it is, can it be worse than being killed? ”

Xu Bin's gaze was cast forward, and his face was solemn: "This ...... Heck, it's hard to say. ”

At the same time as the two of them were galloping towards Jing'an, Cao Poyan had just climbed the steep embankment of the Cao Canal. There happens to be a bluestone road monument more than two zhang high on the shore, and the four characters of "Yongan North Canal" are written on it. He ran to the stele with his hands and feet, and sat down with his back against the stele, his face pale and panting.

His left elbow was bent all the way, a swarthy* arrow tail was exposed at the joint, and there was blood on the sleeve. He was lucky that if he had an arrow on it, he was afraid that his entire arm would be useless.

Suddenly, Cao Poyan's ears moved, and he quickly lowered his body and covered his figure with a stone tablet. On the main road not far away, a patrol of Jinwuwei Street Envoys rumbled over. There are a lot of pedestrians, cars and horses on this road, and it is often congested. The patrol had to shout loudly to separate a road—in which case almost no one paid attention to the movement along the canal.

When the patrol team was far away, Cao Poyan covered his left elbow with his right hand and slowly got up. He looked around and was about to step out when his gaze suddenly lit up. In the distance, a man left the avenue, crossed the gutter, and was swaying towards the stele.

This is a drunk man in his forties, wearing a white robe with a lack of hips, and his chest is covered with wet marks. Cao Poyan had to lower his body again and try to keep his breathing as low as possible.

The drunk man walked up to the stele, burped loudly, then lifted the edge of his robe with one slit, untied his belt with the other, and began to pee on the stele. This soak of urine is really long, and the drunk man still holds on to * with great interest, and goes to flush the floating soil on the stele. After peeing, the drunk casually tied his belt and turned around to leave, but he suddenly lowered his head and let out: "Huh? ”

He saw a series of messy water footprints on the embankment between the canal and the stone monument. The drunk man curiously took a few steps forward, bypassing the stele, and happened to meet Cao Poyan's eyes behind the stele.

The drunk man was stunned for a moment, then laughed, and said, "Zimei, it turns out that you are back, come and have a drink." Cao Po stretched out his hand and put his arms around his neck, and the drunk muttered to himself, don't make trouble, don't make trouble. In the next moment, the sound of the neck bone being broken came from behind the stele, and the muttering stopped abruptly.

After a while, Cao Poyan was wearing a shirt with a lack of hips, and his demeanor naturally walked towards the street. The Hu people wore Chinese robes, which was very common in Chang'an. He just walked into the crowd like a grain of sand falling into the desert.

Zhang Xiaojing and Xu Bin arrived at Guangdefang, and it took exactly a moment at the cost of Xu Bin losing his headscarf. After a strict search, the two met Li Mi in a secluded courtyard behind the main hall of Jing'an.

This is a retreat room, plain walls and gray tiles, flat seats and simple tables, scribbled under the window planted with honeysuckle, bauhinia, a few clusters of half-withered yellow bamboo, the owner obviously did not put any thought into the decoration. The only thing special is a small sundial of the bronze finch pointing obliquely at the sky, which shows that the owner cares about time very much. A small canal was dug around the sundial, and the gurgling water meandered to the back of the hospital.

Xu Bin returned the whitebait bag and bowed to leave, leaving only Zhang Xiaojing and Li Mi to face alone.

Zhang Xiaojing rubbed his hands deeply, and one eye took the opportunity to look at it quickly. This fair-faced chess prodigy was dressed in a dark green robe, which was in line with the six-rank rank of Zhao Hanlin. But the fish bag is only allowed to be admired by officials above the fifth grade, and he was given a silver fish bag, which shows that it is a super gift from the Son of Heaven - from this small detail, you can smell the strong taste of the saints.

However, at this time, Li Mi was not so proud. Although he tried his best to maintain his calmness, the muscles at the corners of his eyebrows and lips were tense, and Zhang Xiaojing could see at a glance that this young man was under great pressure.

The most interesting thing is that Li Mi actually holds a whisk in his hand, and I don't know why a general officer of the Jing'an Division is holding such a Taoist weapon.

Li Mi shook the dust, didn't say any greetings, and went straight to the point: "What I want to tell you next is the first-class secret of the imperial court." You only have two choices, do things for me, or go back and die. ”

Zhang Xiaojing remained silent, knowing that the other party did not need to answer, but was only confirming the dominance of the conversation.

Li Mi walked to the side of the case, pulled it hard, and tore off the white thin wide silk on the wall, revealing a general map of the territory of the Tang Dynasty, pointing to a place in the north with a whisk:

"In August of the first year of Tianbao, the Turkic civil strife, the new Usumish Khan did not accept the king's transformation and raised an army. Shuofang Jiedu made Wang Zhonghei unite with Ba Ximi, Hui Hui, Ge Lulu and other troops to send troops to fight, and fought for a year and a half, and now the Turkic Khan is at the end of his rope. ”

His voice was clear, calm, and coherent, as if it had been rehearsed many times.

Li Mi said as he took down a book labeled with red silk from the bookshelf next to him and threw it to Zhang Xiaojing. It was a long roll with strips of paper taped horizontally. The handwriting on the slips of paper is sloppy, ranging from 100 words to 1 sentence, in chronological order. Looking at it alone, it is vague, but as the book slowly unfolds, Zhang Xiaojing becomes more and more frightened the more he looks at it.

"At the beginning of September of the second year, a secret recital came from the backyard of Shuo Fangliu, saying that the Turkic Khan had sent several groups of close wolf guards to infiltrate Chang'an, hoping to disadvantage the Son of Heaven and turn the tide of the battle on the front. Those Turkic wolf guards were the most fearsome elite of the steppe, cruel and cunning, and extremely loyal to the Khan. In order to specifically prevent this thief, the imperial court set up the Jing'an Division. Li Mi paused for a moment and continued, "But we don't know what the Turks' plan is. Staying in the backyard and Jing'an Division tried their best, but they only barely caught the movements of one of the teams. ”

Speaking of this, Li Mi gently tapped the pine wood table with his finger knuckles: "Originally, Jing'an Si set up a plan to invite you into the urn, and wanted to use this team of wolf guards to fish out other lurkers. It's a pity that his subordinates are mediocre, and their success is in vain, and they let the key person escape half an hour ago! ”

Li Mi instructed someone to take all the correspondence documents of the operation just now and let him browse them, which faintly meant to take the school examination. Zhang Xiaojing flipped through it, pointed to one of the records, and said: "The Turks come from the steppe and are the most sensitive to the chirping of horses. Li Sicheng, the timing of your order to clear the livestock around the warehouse is too early, and the sound will become silent, which will naturally cause alarm. ”

When Li Mi heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned, Jing'an Division had discussed before, how Cao Poyan saw through the trap, and the conclusion was inconsistent. Li Mi always thought that it was Cui Liulang's incompetence that would reveal the flaws, but he didn't expect the reason to be himself. He originally intended to test this person in the school to see if he had real skills, but it turned out that people found out his mistakes.

Thinking of this, Li Mi was slightly ashamed at first, but then smiled slightly-isn't this the person Jing Ansi is looking for?

Zhang Xiaojing's face was as usual, he had been a bad handsome man in Chang'an for nine years, and he had experienced all kinds of weird and strange cases, this simple inference was nothing at all.

Li Mi sighed and said, "After the failure of the plan to enter the urn, all the clues have been broken. The only thing we know for sure is that the wolf guard will definitely do it when the Yuan Lantern Festival is held tonight! With that, he looked out the window at the sundial with an awe-inspiring gaze.

Zhang Xiaojing was shocked when he heard this. The Shangyuan Lantern Festival has always been a candle at the unitary time, but now it has passed the middle hour, and there are only four hours left when it is full.

The Jing'an Division had to pull out all the Turkic wolf guards from the million-population Chang'an City in four hours, which was an almost impossible task.

Only then did Zhang Xiaojing understand why Li Mi was so eager to bring himself out of death row. The matter was too important, too difficult, too urgent to be done by ordinary means, and the young official had to take a dangerous step and talk to a condemned prisoner.

Li Mi's tall figure leaned forward slightly: "Within four hours, can you do it?" ”

Zhang Xiaojing asked rhetorically: "Why me?" ”

"I've checked your color experience, you have dealt with the Turks in the Western Regions before, and you should be very experienced in dealing with them; You have been a bad handsome man in Chang'an for another nine years, and I am afraid that no one is more familiar with the situation in this city than you. He paused deliberately, then raised a hand again, "As long as you can accomplish this errand, I will grant you an amnesty." ”

Nothing could be more tempting for a death row prisoner than a pardon.

But Zhang Xiaojing didn't show surprise, his single eye squinted slightly, as if he was thinking about something, and then respectfully bowed his hand: "Thank you Si Cheng for your kindness, I am willing to go back to prison and wait for death." ”

The corners of Li Mi's eyebrows twitched, he actually refused the only chance to survive? Why?

"There are one hundred and eight squares in Chang'an, and if you want to find a few Turks within four hours, the gods can't do it. Anyway, it's all dead, and I'm back in prison now, and I'm still in a clean province. Zhang Xiaojing spread out his hands, then turned around and walked outside.

"Is it enough to give you the rank of Xuanjie Lieutenant, plus the actual position of a general in the upper house?"

"It's not about pay."

Li Mi's face became gloomy: "I don't have time to waste, prescribe your conditions!" "He doesn't believe a person will give up this opportunity unless he doesn't want to live anymore.

Zhang Xiaojing continued to walk forward: "I have already said that this has nothing to do with the amount of remuneration, and if you can't do it, you can't do it." ”

"Do you hate the Turks?" Li Mi suddenly asked an irrelevant question.

Zhang Xiaojing's footsteps stopped.

"Hate." The voice was neither joyful nor angry.

Li Yu's voice suddenly raised: "You hate the Turks so much, do you plan to sit back and watch these beasts wreak havoc in Chang'an?" ”

Zhang Xiaojing still maintained his back-to-back posture: "There are hundreds of officials in Chang'an, and there are 100,000 strong troops under it, how can I catch the Turks, but it has become my responsibility as a death row prisoner?" There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Li Mi said sharply: "Because now the only person who can save Chang'an City is you!" This was almost a scoundrel, Zhang Xiaojing was about to shake his head and leave, but Li Mi hurriedly walked forward, grabbed his sleeve regardless of his identity, and turned around to block in front of him, and the two sword eyebrows almost stood in one place:

"Zhang Xiaojing, I know that you have a grudge against the imperial court. But today's events have nothing to do with the face of the Son of Heaven, nor for my Li Mi's career, but for the safety of the people in the city! Do you understand? For the sake of the people, if you leave, how can you be at peace in your heart! I don't care what you think, but you have to get it done! That's hundreds of thousands of lives! It's human life! ”

When he said that, his voice trembled a little, apparently because of his emotional agitation. That's rare.

Zhang Xiaojing didn't expect the young official to suddenly lose his temper. When he heard the word "human life", his heart finally stirred slightly. For some reason, the scene of the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood in the dream reappeared, and the hideous wolf flag and the cry were intertwined. After being silent for a long time, he finally let out a long sigh: "Okay, Li Sicheng, you convinced me." ”

Li Mi let go of his sleeve, took a step back, and changed back to a reserved posture: "My other previous promises are still valid. ”

Zhang Xiaojing pondered for a moment and said, "But I have a request. The government has too many scruples and is constrained, and if I want to catch this fang within four hours, I have to follow my rules. ”

"Your rules...... What is it? ”

"It just doesn't follow any rules." Zhang Xiaojing's right eye flashed with a dangerous and unruly light.

Li Mi is a smart person and immediately understood what Zhang Xiaojing meant. The water in Chang'an City is too deep, and all kinds of forces are staggered and balanced, and there are many obstacles to doing things. If you can't have a quick knife to cut through this mess, let alone four hours, even four months may not be able to achieve anything. In order for Zhang Xiaojing to catch the Turks in Chang'an City within four hours, he must have the absolute authority to crush everything - do whatever he wants, everyone cooperates, and no one can stop him.

Li Mi hesitated. This guy has been a bad handsome man in Chang'an for nine years, and he has all kinds of ruthless methods, and he really has no scruples about acting, and it is hard to imagine how much impact it will have.

Seeing that he was silent, Zhang Xiaojing sneered, turned around and was about to walk out.

"Wait!"

Li Mi finally made up his mind, he raised his right hand, and showed a yellow and clear copper waist plate, engraved with the words "Jing'an Ceping":

"From now on, you are the commander of the Jing'an Division, with this waist card, the watchtowers and street shops in Chang'an City, Wuhou, Fang Shouli Guard, Patrol Cavalry, City Gate Guard, and the bad people in the two counties of Jingzhao Mansion can listen to your dispatch. See the card as if you see the official. ”

Zhang Xiaojing unceremoniously took the waist card, tied it on his belt, and tied a firm Jiuhe knot. From now on, he is the most powerful death row prisoner in Chang'an.

Li Mi suddenly asked, "I give you so much authority, what if you don't tell you and run away?" ”

"There are no guarantees." Zhang Xiaojing replied without hesitation, "You choose the people, I choose the road, and we all have to be responsible for our own choices." ”

And so the conversation ended. Li Mi shook the bell on the table and called the two maidservants. They took Zhang Xiaojing to a nearby wing room, asked him to take off his gray prison clothes, and changed into a small jacket and brown cotton hakama that was easy to move. After packing up, Li Mi personally took Zhang Xiaojing to the main hall of Jing'an Division.

This is the center of the entire Jing'an Division, gathering elites from various departments, summarizing military information from various places, and deducing it; There is a huge treasury in the wing, which is stacked with files from the six departments to the two cities of Chang'an, which can be accessed at any time. Xu Bin was transferred because he had expertise in this area.

What impressed Zhang Xiaojing the most was the watchtower of Jing'an Division.

Throughout Chang'an, there are two or three watchtowers in each square, which are used to monitor bandits and fires on weekdays. Under Li Mi's deployment, the watchtower now has more functions, and a special flag holding Wuhou has been set up, and they can communicate with the agreed flag language. Flags are used during the day, and lanterns are used at night.

In this way, the situation seen by any watchtower in Chang'an City can be quickly transmitted to the center of the Jing'an Division. In the same way, the Jing'an Division Center can also quickly issue orders to any place.

This set of things was obviously learned from the Frontier Beacon, but it was more convenient than the Beacon. The watchtowers are only half a mile away from each other, and the military situation can span the entire Chang'an City in an instant. Zhang Xiaojing saw the practicality of this thing at a glance: this means that no matter where he is in Chang'an, he can keep in touch with Jing'an Division through the watchtower, and there is a giant eye overlooking Chang'an.

However, this watchtower system is extremely costly, and only a freak like Jing'an Si can afford to use it.

At this time, Cui Qi was also in the hall, and was talking in a low voice with the maid who was in charge of the sand table deduction. Li Mi shouted his name, Cui Qi hurriedly ran over and knelt down on one knee, he hadn't forgotten that he was guilty.

Li Mi said calmly: "Cui Lvshuai, Liulang's death came from the careless mistake of clearing the field. The official is also responsible for his own punishment. Cui Qi looked up suddenly, almost not believing his ears. He didn't expect that his brother's death was actually due to such a small negligence; The second didn't expect that this chief would admit his mistake, could it be ...... Is this a trick to buy people's hearts?

Li Mi pouted at this, he didn't have time to play with power now, he was just arrogant enough to disdain people. He pointed at Zhang Xiaojing: "It is this Zhang Duwei who solves this suspicion." He will take over from your brother and track down the wolf guard. ”

Cui Qi glanced at Zhang Xiaojing, with both gratitude and doubt in his eyes.

He knew that Zhang Xiaojing was a death row prisoner, and he didn't understand why Li Mi would bet on him. However, the soldier takes obedience as his duty, he performed a military etiquette, and said in a loud voice: "I have three hundred brigades of Ben troops under my command, both on foot and horse, and within two moments, I can reach any place in Chang'an - I hope Mr. Zhang can give me a chance to kill the enemy and avenge my brother!" ”

Zhang Xiaojing noticed that he was talking about Mr. Zhang, not Zhang Duwei, and the sharp sword that Li Mi handed him did not seem to be so easy to control.

Time is running out. The rest of the arrangement was tense and intensive, Zhang Xiaojing wrote down the watchtower banner and some necessary contact information, and then walked to the big sand table to listen to a brief introduction about the Turks.

The person in charge of the narration is the graceful maid who is holding a moon scepter. When she faced the sand table, she spoke in a clear and clear voice, with a slight hint of nonsense. Zhang Xiaojing glanced at her a little rudely, this girl named Tan Qi, with a high nose bridge and black hair, should be of mixed Chinese and Hu blood.

"The point is, what are the Turkic wolf guards going to do?" Zhang Xiaojing asked.

Tan Qi said: "I don't know yet. The only piece of information came from Shuo Fangliu's backyard. The Turkic leader of one tribe once claimed that the entire city of Chang'an was about to become Quelehodo - you know what that means? ”

Zhang Xiaojing nodded. Quele is a Turkic term, similar to the Nine Hells of Blood, while Hodo means to turn to dust. The whole word is both a curse and a legendary beast. The four words "Quelehodo", even if you don't understand Turkic, you can feel the monstrous killing intent in it.

Chang'an City is about to become Quelehodo, this may be an exaggerated rhetoric, maybe it is a metaphor for something, no one knows.

Tan Qi knew that the time was urgent, and spoke quickly: "...... This is a piece of scrap cloth that we found in the Bingliu Inn, on which half of the outside of Chang'an City is outlined. It is likely that what Cao Poyan wants is a detailed map of the entire Chang'an. ”

As soon as he heard that it was a picture of Chang'an Fang, Zhang Xiaojing's two silkworm eyebrows were entangled together. Li Mi noticed that his expression had become grim, and asked, "In your opinion, what do the Turks want this fang tu to do—well, let me change the question, if the fang map is in hand, what can they do?" ”

"Poisoning the canal, setting fire to the fang, killing the good at night, spreading demons, and entering the imperial city...... If it is the Shangyuan Lantern Festival, just throw a few copper coins in Chongrenfang, Yanshoufang, Xingqing Palace, and Qujiangchi to watch the lanterns, and you can make a big mess. With the guidance of the Fang Tu, they can come and go freely in this Chang'an City, but they are afraid of too many things. ”

Zhang Xiaojing crossed his fingers and talked eloquently, and every time he said a word, the faces of the people around him became a little colder.

Li Mi's face was grim, he had estimated the situation seriously enough, but he didn't expect that there would be these unbelievable sinister tricks. After all, the people of Jing'an Division are official, and their knowledge in these aspects is far inferior to that of this former bad handsome who is used to seeing ghost tricks.

"In your opinion, if you can't make a public arrest, what do you do next?" Li Mi asked.

Zhang Xiaojing replied: "Privately hiding the map of the Imperial City is a big crime to kill the head. Except for the government, ordinary people will not have it. Since Cao Poyan can't get it from Cui Liulang, he will either go to the imperial city to steal it, or ......" His gaze moved to the sand table, his body moved towards Tan Qi, almost touching her shoulder to shoulder: "The last time the watchtower saw Cao Poyan, where was it?" ”

Tan Qi was a little surprised by his boldness, and hesitated for a moment before replying: "Cao Poyan's speed over the water gate is too fast, and the watchtower has no time to monitor. However, according to our speculation, he may have come ashore in the area of Yanshoufang and Buzhengfang. Both of these places are thriving places and are easy to hide. We've sent someone to search. ”

Zhang Xiaojing said: "I guess he won't go far, and he will have to come back here in the end." After speaking, he pointed to the sand table.

"Nishichi?" Cui Qi was a little surprised. Li Mi nodded slightly, and said in unison with Zhang Xiaojing: "Hu Shang! ”

Most of the Hu businessmen gathered in the West Market, and there were many tycoons with a net worth of millions. The Chang'an Fang map is very beneficial for business, and it is not surprising that they secretly collect one. Zhang Xiaojing is very familiar with their temperament, these people are born profit-seekers, and they are more courageous than camels.

After Cui Liulang was exposed, Cao Poyan did not dare to contact the Tang people again. If he wanted to get the Fang Tu in the shortest possible time, he had no choice but to fight the Hu people's idea.

"But do you know which merchant to go to?" Li Mi frowned and asked. There are too many Hu merchants in the West Market, and it is impossible to investigate them one by one.

Zhang Xiaojing clenched his fists and replied lightly: "When it is extraordinary, there is an extraordinary method." Li Mi was a little nervous, but he still swallowed the words in his mouth.

The "extraordinary method" that this guy said may be some unkind means. But there is no time to talk about criminal law and conscience. The corners of the temple were leaking copper, and the water was still beating the barrel drop by drop. Every drop can mean the loss of hundreds of lives.

"Zhang Duwei, the national fortunes of the imperial court and the safety of the people in the city are entrusted to you." Li Mi flicked his sleeves, solemnly clenched his fists with both hands, and bowed solemnly. Seeing this, the officials behind him also got up together and bowed their hands in unison.

Zhang Xiaojing didn't return the salute, but just dusted the dust in his left eye socket with his hand, and said indifferently: "I'm for the people of Chang'an, and I don't care about anything else." Don't be mistaken. ”

Everyone's faces changed in an instant, what is this? Although everyone has grievances against the court in private, how can they say it openly?

Zhang Xiaojing grinned, turned around and walked out of the hall. The cadres and subordinates of the Jing'an Division were frightened, and they all looked at Li Yu. Li Mi's face was as usual, and he put the dust on his arm, seemingly unconcerned.

This guy was hinting to himself that he didn't want to be controlled.

At the door, Cui Qi had already prepared a complete set of equipment: refining obstacle knife, close-fitting soft armor, smoke pills, ox tendon binding ropes, etc., and a handful of Zhang*. Zhang Xiaojing skillfully draped these things up, squatted down again, and tied his trouser legs tightly with two pieces of hemp rope. After getting dressed, a fierce and murderous aura came to his face.

Zhang Xiaojing picked up the handle*, pulled the empty string repeatedly, listened to it with his ears, and said to Cui Qi: "Remove Wangshan, and tighten the hook by two points." Cui Qi was stunned when he heard this, Wangshan is used for auxiliary aiming, which is more cumbersome, people with a quasi-head don't like to pretend, and the hook heart adjusts the speed of the crossbow arrow, the faster the more powerful, but the quasi-head is not easy to control - it seems that this is a master with a crossbow.

He hurriedly took the crossbow arrow to the craftsman to adjust, Zhang Xiaojing took the opportunity to call Xu Bin aside, and said in a low voice:

"Trouble Youde, you send someone to the southwest corner of Dunyi Fang, where there is a Wenji incense shop, send a message to the shopkeeper: leave Chang'an immediately, don't delay for a moment. It is best that you also advise your family to go out of the city as soon as possible, and never go to the lantern festival. ”

Xu Bin's eyes widened, not understanding his intentions.

Zhang Xiaojing's tone was extremely stern: "I have been in Chang'an City for so many years, and I know better than anyone how fragile this city is. If what Li Sicheng said is true, I guess—" Speaking of this, he hesitated for a rare moment, and then accentuated his tone:

"This time Chang'an is in a catastrophe."

Cao Poyan was standing at the gate of a certain square at this time. At this time, he had an extra hat on his head, and if he didn't lift it, he couldn't see his face at all.

At this time, the door of the fang was wide open, and countless vendors set up stalls under the wall of the fang, shouting and shouting. More than a dozen idlers grabbed the ends of the thick rope in an open space, pulling hooks to make a play, and the number of onlookers cheering was ten times as many. Next to the door, there is a large lantern wheel with a height of more than five feet. Colorful silk tassels hang from every corner of the lantern wheel, and candles are held after dusk.

Cao Poyan lowered his hat and walked towards the square from Liwei's side. Jing'an Division had already sent a proclamation to ask the guards of Zhufang to pay attention to a bearded man, but the matter was in a hurry and no picture was attached. The guards were busy cheering for the hook, and when they saw that Cao Poyan was not dressed in a robe, they didn't even bother to look at it, and let him enter.

Cao Poyan walked to a secluded corner near the intersection of the street, took out a small paper roll from his arms, looked at it, and then stopped a child who ran by and asked Li Ji where the bamboo shop was. When the child saw that he looked vicious, he hurriedly said that he was in the house at the end of the wide alley on the back street.

Cao Poyan followed the instructions, and there was indeed a bamboo workshop here, with lantern shelves and bamboo strips piled up in front of the aisle and door, including Luan Feng, Yunlong, and all kinds of gods and mascots. It seems that business here is good, and it is still busy on the day of the Shangyuan Festival.

He knocked on the door, three times, one short, and two more. There was silence in the room for a moment, and a high-nosed, deep-eyed thin bamboo craftsman poked his head out and held a knife-sharpening knife to his chest.

"Where is the White Felt Golden Tent located in the royal court?" He asked abruptly in Turkic.

"The eagle of the steppe is not afraid of the wind." Cao Poyan lifted his hat and replied in Turkic.

The other party opened a small slit and let him dodge in.