Dazhou in the dark night, Dazhou surrounded by torches, the sky and the earth are full of sparks, and Dazhou is not much darker than day. Chen Pingping, the former president of the Supervision Yuan, the most loyal servant of Emperor Qingguo, and the closest courtier, sat in a wheelchair, looking at the people kneeling on the ground on both sides of the official road and bowing to him, the expression on his face did not tremble, and those thin and deep wrinkles did not bloom into chrysanthemums, but just spread straight so indifferently, just like the shocking pictures on the Loess Plain that have been washed by rain for thousands of years.

The dry and old-fashioned hands slowly stroked over the wool blanket, this pale gray wool blanket is always so smooth and comfortable, whenever she caresses it, Chen Pingping always feels that she is stroking something that she is not blessed to touch.

It didn't take long for him to know from the mouth of the eunuch in the inner court what was going on in Dazhou City, and he also knew who the imperial court prisoner who was being treated by the subordinates of the Supervision Yuan.

The name Gundam was unfamiliar to Chen Pingping, but it was not unfamiliar, he knew that it was Fan Xian's original cronies and guards. He glanced at the court prisoner covered in blood, and his indifferent eyes gradually shrank.

The Supervision Yuan didn't know that Gundam was alive, Chen Pingping sighed in her heart, thinking that the dignified leader of the Tiger Guard had actually been turned into a character who had learned to spare his life by Fan Xian, and An Zhi, this child, seemed indifferent and boring, but he didn't expect that there was such magic in the subtleties.

As Chen Pingping said to herself before, Qiaoqiao's mother really gave birth to Qiaoqiao, which is not a very coincidental thing, but cause and effect are predestined, the past is destined, and then it fell here. Just as today, the convoy of 30 black carriages of the Supervision Yuan just passed through Dazhou normally, but outside the city of Dazhou, they encountered the battle of the imperial court to arrest the Qin criminals, and the Qin criminals who were wanted by the imperial court were the people who were Fan Xian at the beginning.

This is not a coincidence, it is not a coincidence, there may be something hidden behind all this qiē.

"It's really remarkable that Lord He was able to find the escaped Qin criminal. Chen Pingping coughed twice and said with a smile, and the old servant behind him, who never left him, pushed his wheelchair and walked towards the crowd.

The wheelchair ran over on the official road, making a creaking and palpitating sound.

He Qigan, the eunuch of the inner court, has a very high rank in the court, but he has always been disliked by the nobles in the palace, so his position is not very important. However, after decades of working in the palace, he naturally knew what kind of attitude he should show at this time.

He led the two eunuchs and the masters of the thirteen yamen of the Criminal Department to disperse the encirclement, for fear that Old Dean Chen would think that he had any hostility.

He Qigan knew what kind of terrifying person Old Dean Chen was, he would never have the luxury of expecting that since he met Dean Chen today, if the other party spoke, he would still be able to take away that imperial court prisoner. Of course, from another aspect, he didn't think that the old dean, who had already resigned from the old court, would disobey His Majesty's will because of such an inconspicuous court offense, after all, Old Dean Chen was His Majesty's most loyal subordinate.

It's just that he ignored two things, one is that Chen Pingping knows that Gundam is Fan Xian's person, and Fan Xian never likes other people to deal with his own people, even if those so-called other people are people sent by the palace. Second, Chen Pingping was immersed in a very complicated feeling, he looked at the court prisoner Gundam who was still unconscious on the ground, and pondered something in his heart that others did not understand at all.

The treatment of the supervision hospital was very effective, Gundam finally woke up slowly from the pool of blood, he should not be able to bear such a serious injury, just to protect the mother and the child, there were several knife wounds that penetrated deep into the flesh and bones, all of which were hard to catch by him with his body and arms.

As soon as he woke up, his eyes were stung by the torches around him, and his dry lips moved slightly, and then he saw the black sè wheelchair close at hand, and the big man in the wheelchair. He hadn't met Dean Chen a few times, but he knew what kind of person Dean Chen was, especially after seeing Dean Chen's slightly worried and complicated eyes.

The dumb lady was overjoyed when she saw her husband wake up, knelt beside him with the child in her arms, and nodded her head to the officials of the Supervision Yuan around her to thank her.

It depends on what Chen Pingping does.

Gundam's face darkened, and he knew that if Chen Pingping saved his life for the sake of Lord Fan, then He Zongwei could use this matter to drag Fan Xian into the water, and even drag Chen Pingping into the water.

His fingers moved slightly, a trace of cruelty flashed in his eyes, and he bent his finger and knocked it on his temple!

He wanted to flee because he was single, with his wife and children, and even in the face of Qingguo's powerful state machine, he still had to live stubbornly until the day he couldn't live.

However, he wants to commit suicide at this moment, because he knows that if he is alive, he will give Chen Pingping, or more precisely, a problem to Lord Xiao Fan that Chen Pingping wants to protect.

So he chose to commit suicide, Chen Pingping watched him shoot, without the slightest reaction, but a trace of appreciation flashed in his eyes, and a smile of insight into the world.

With a snap, the official of the Supervision Yuan, who had been guarding Gundam's side, easily stopped Gundam's idea of committing suicide, he looked at Gundam and said indifferently: "It's hard to live for three more years, and I have a wife and children, so why die in such a hurry." ”

This voice was very familiar, Gundam's heart shook slightly, and he turned his head with great difficulty, but he didn't expect to see a completely unfamiliar face, but the official of the Supervision Yuan turned back to his original tone, coupled with the familiar banter in his eyes, so that Gundam immediately knew the identity of the other party.

Gundam's dry lips moved slightly, but he couldn't speak, he looked at the inspectorate official like a ghost, and after a long time, he said with a very low voice: "It turns out ...... You're alive too. ”

The official of the Supervision Yuan smiled slightly, tightened the strip of cloth on his body, patted his hands, and said, "Who doesn't want to live? ”

Chen Pingping leaned on the black sè's wheelchair slightly tiredly, and the women from Chen Yuan on both sides of the convoy dispersed to the forest, but fortunately, those embarrassing voices did not come, but later those ridiculous voices gradually got higher.

The old man's eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked at Gundam and said, "You are not Gundam. ”

Gundam was shocked and looked at Dean Chen for some reason.

Chen Pingping said slowly: "You are just a small person, and your life or death is not a big deal, so you had better stay alive." ”

As soon as these words came out, not only Gao Gao and the official of the Supervision Yuan beside him, but even the masters of the Criminal Department and the three eunuchs of the inner court scattered around him smelled a strange smell. Yes, the Tiger Guard Gundam who escaped from the battle, and the court criminals who have been secretly investigated by Scholar He for a long time, in the eyes of the Supervision Yuan, to be precise, in the eyes of Chen Pingping, they are just an inconspicuous little person.

He Qigan silently took two steps back, and then the magistrate of Dazhou moved over in small steps extremely nervously, bowed solemnly to Chen Pingping, and then invited the old dean to enter the city for a while.

The Supervision Yuan is a secret agency, the agency that all officials fear and hate the most, and it is also the agency they want to get in touch with the most, and then from Chen Pingping to Fan Xian, these two people are cattle people who don't need to weave relationships in the DPRK and China, so the civil officials of Qingguo have never found any opportunities.

And at the moment, there is no doubt that it is a great opportunity for the Lord of Dazhou to curry favor with Dean Chen, so as to continue to curry favor with the little grandfather, as an official, he is not willing to miss it no matter what. As for the imperial court criminals, it is a matter for the officials of the inner court and the criminal department, and it is his business.

Chen Pingping ignored the official, he just looked at Gundam indifferently, thinking about his own business.

As said before, Chen Pingping didn't think that the sudden appearance of Gundam was a coincidence, He Zongwei secretly investigated Gundam and Wang Qinian, this matter may be able to hide from the Supervision Yuan, but it can't be hidden from the Emperor Xià, and His Majesty Xià chose to let this matter break out on his way back, for what?

For a reason, an excuse, a question.

The emperor was far away in Kyoto, thousands of miles away, questioning Chen Pingping, and questioning Chen Pingping with the matter of the court's trivial life, are you a black dog of mine, or a powerful minister with your own will?

Quan Chen has never had a good end, even if he is like Lin Ruofu, he sees the opportunity very much, retreats cleanly, completely, and hides in Wuzhou as a farmer, but he is always afraid that His Majesty the Emperor will be unhappy one day.

Chen Pingping is not an ordinary courtier, he doesn't need to worry about this. He knew that the emperor just wanted to ask himself a question, and then look at his own attitude—his attitude towards the emperor.

Chen Pingping suddenly laughed, her smile was a little weird, under the blowing of the night breeze and the reflection of the torches, it was like those golden thread chrysanthemums that kept blooming under the hanging temple, not afraid of the cold wind, ignoring the vulgar dust, just blindly blooming.

"Let Gundam recuperate. He gently stroked the handle of the wheelchair and smiled.

Dozens of people sent by the imperial court to arrest the Qin criminals, plus hundreds of military officers in Dazhou, heard such a faint sentence, and their hearts were cold at the same time, knowing that Dean Chen had decided to intervene. Although they did not dare to resist, and they were powerless to resist the swordsmen of the Supervision Yuan carried in the thirty black carriages, as well as the powers hidden in the darkness, they were still shocked.

If Chen Pingping wants to protect this person, I am afraid that His Majesty the Emperor will also give him this face. He Qigan and those thirteen yamen masters all thought so in their hearts, their faces were ugly and embarrassing, but no one dared to express any objection to Chen Pingping's words.

Because opposition is invalid, opposition is incompetent. He Qigan's throat was dry, and he was a little unwilling, he was sent to Scholar He by the inner court, and wandered in the court of Qingguo for a year, and he was about to catch Gundam, but ...... In an instant, He Qigan thought a little helplessly, even if this errand was messed up, but after returning to Beijing, as long as he explained to the chief official and the chief eunuch that it was Dean Chen who intervened, what did it matter to him?

............ The coquettish beauties of Chen Yuan finally returned, they opened their big eyes, curiously looking at those people surrounded by torches, they didn't know what was happening, they didn't know what the master was talking about, what they were thinking, they weren't too worried, whether it was in Chen Yuanli, or in the guerrilla warfare during the Kyoto rebellion, and now on the way back to their hometowns, they were protected by the people of the Supervision Yuan, no matter where the officials were, they were treated with courtesy.

They are all orphan girls that Chen Pingping bought back from the poor people, except for being beautiful and singing a good song, they have no other strengths, but Chen Pingping is willing to raise them and protect them, this kind of quirk has also created these flowers in the greenhouse.

If Chen Pingping's mountain falls, I don't know what kind of flowers in the greenhouse will end up.

Chen Pingping lowered her head, listened to the familiar women's voices not far behind, and smiled slightly.

He did not let the convoy follow the invitation of the governor of Dazhou to enter the city for the night, but just sat calmly in a wheelchair, looking at the complicated eunuchs and officials of the criminal department around him, as if he was thinking about something, as if he was waiting for something.

Then he closed his eyes.

There are not many people in this world who know His Majesty the Emperor of Qingguo like Chen Pingping. Gundam is indeed a small person, and even if it is a litmus test, it does not have that kind of hardness. However, this kind of thing is always a kind of subjective idealism, and His Majesty the Emperor said to Chen Pingping in the dark mountains at this time, this prisoner is the stone I left for you.

At this time, Chen Pingping had many choices in front of her.

He could save Gundam, and then Shi Shiran returned to his hometown, although he knew that some people would come to him soon, but as Ye Chong and Eunuch Yao thought, in the mountains and fields inside Qingguo, who could keep Chen Pingping?

He can ignore Gundam's life and death, and take the women in the convoy back to his hometown to retire and spend the rest of his life.

............ His Majesty the Emperor gave Chen Pingping one last chance to choose, and no matter which of the above mentioned ones Chen Pingping chosen, it may be what His Majesty the Emperor would like to see. The emperor himself knew that if Chen Pingping didn't want to go back to Kyoto to face himself again, then no one could force him to go back to Kyoto to face him.

Chen Pingping did not move, and the atmosphere on both sides of the official road became more and more strange. There are many people who have already seen what Chen Pingping seems to be waiting for.

Is there anyone else coming?

The Inspectorate official who had been guarding Gundam walked to the side of the wheelchair, lowered his body and whispered something in Chen Pingping's ear. Chen Pingping shook her head slowly, shaking her head very slowly, but very resolutely.

It didn't take long for voices to sound behind the official road, and these voices were not very noisy, but had a cautious taste.

The officials of the Supervisory Yuan did not stop the procession, but escorted them to the middle of the torch encirclement with their eyes.

Dazhou Zhizhou and He Qigan, the eunuchs and officials of the Criminal Department, finally saw this team clearly, and finally knew who Old Dean Chen was waiting for, they were shocked, but they couldn't help but feel a chill, it turned out that Old Dean Chen had long known what would happen later.

If this is a big chessboard, then the eunuchs of the inner court, the officials who have worked hard for a long time in the Criminal Department, and even He Zongwei, who laid out this plan at the beginning, are actually just inconspicuous small chess pieces on the chessboard.

The people sent by He Zongwei did not have a holy decree in their hands, and the Supervision Yuan's intervention at this time could not be regarded as a disobedience to the decree, with Chen Pingping's status, there was naturally no problem.

But the decree has finally arrived.

It's like a chessboard where Red jumps a horse and rides on the elephant's back, and then asks the black veteran whether you want to move or kill the horse.

............ There were no eunuchs in the military squad of more than a dozen people, these Qing soldiers were in armor, and they were extremely heroic, but they all had a very complicated feeling on their faces.

The leader of the squad held the holy decree of Ming Huang Sè high in his hand.

The sound of horses' hooves broke the silence outside Dazhou City, and all the sergeants dismounted in unison and saluted solemnly to Chen Pingping in a wheelchair, and then the squad leader with the holy decree began to read out His Majesty's will in a trembling voice.

The will has nothing to do with Chen Pingping, who returned to his hometown to retire, but is just aimed at the court prisoner who was in the carriage of the Supervision Yuan at this time, and ordered everyone in the Criminal Department to immediately arrest this deceitful thief and bring him back to Beijing, and no one can stop him, otherwise he will be punished for rebellion.

After the decree was read, the sound of water droplets dripping from the grass not far away could be heard in the quiet of the room. Everyone's eyes were horrified to the old man in the wheelchair, and at this time, no matter how stupid the person was, he could see the problem, where is there such a coincidental thing in the world, just now the Supervision Yuan was still saying that there was no holy body on the side of the inner court, at this time...... The Holy Decree appeared in Dazhou.

Lord Dazhou Zhizhou subconsciously took a step back to the periphery, and everyone subconsciously took a step out, they finally knew that today's scene was actually a game between His Majesty and Old Dean Chen, and they were not qualified to participate in this matter, and they didn't even have this qualification to take a look.

The squad leader trembled and read out the holy decree, took the silk cloth of Ming Huang Sè back into his arms, and then walked to the front of the wheelchair and knelt down on one knee, and said in a low voice: "The last general is the general of the Kyoto garrison, Guanxiong, on the order of General Shi, came to assist the Inner Court Criminal Department to arrest the imperial court, please make it convenient for the old dean." ”

Chen Pingping's face was slightly pale, he knew that this scene was going to come after all, and His Majesty still didn't block the final road after all, but maybe it was because His Majesty knew that he would definitely block this road by himself.

It's still the same old saying, this matter started because of Gundam, but it has nothing to do with Gundam, just an exchange of questions between him and the emperor.

............ In the mountains in the distance, there was a tranquility, all the horses were chewed up, and these Qingguo's war horses were trained so well that they didn't even make a sound of kicking the ground. Thousands of Kyoto garrison Jīng sharp cavalry were waiting in this valley, waiting for the final order to attack, thousands of iron armor, rushing to the thirty black carriages on the official road, it should not be how difficult to do the battle mission, but whether it was Shi Fei, the general standing at the forefront, or the officers and soldiers of the Kyoto garrison who already knew the inside story, they all felt that this might be the most difficult battle in their lives.

Shi Fei sat quietly on horseback, and the monocular in his hand was also put down, he did not forget that this monocular, the entire Qingguo only produced a few pairs, and this pair in his hand was still a gift from Lord Xiao Fan to him in the New Year.

Shi Fei does not know how many wars he has experienced in his life, he can really be said to be a battle-hardened man, three years ago, the Dongshan Road of the Beijing Kingdom was in turmoil, Yan Xiaoyi, the master of the Zhengbei camp, rebelled, led thousands of pro-soldiers to surround Dadongshan, and the entire Zhengbei camp was in a panic, although the mutiny behind him was defeated, and then the Zhengbei camp was leaderless, and it was very likely that a mutiny or rout would occur, at that time, Shi Fei was heavily ordered by His Majesty, single-handedly entered the Zhengbei camp, and ambushed tens of thousands of soldiers with a holy decree, and it was with this great merit that he became the commander of the Kyoto garrison today。

One person can ambush tens of thousands of people, but today thousands of people have to deal with the old man who is in a wheelchair and has difficulty moving, Shi Fei's heart is still very nervous.

The team that announced the decree had already gone, and Shi Fei prayed in his heart that Old Dean Chen would retreat in front of the holy decree, but he didn't know why, he knew that Chen Pingping would not retreat, and he would not retreat a single step.

This is a very strange feeling, maybe His Majesty the Emperor knew that Chen Pingping didn't want to retreat, so he left a way for Chen Pingping to retreat.

He didn't know what happened between the emperor and Old Dean Chen, but he knew that the matter must have been deeply intertwined between the two, so that it was clear that Dean Chen was going to return to old age, but he forced the two of them to choose to fight face to face.

The official road illuminated by the torches over there seemed to fall into a kind of silence, and then Chen Pingping seemed to slowly shake her head again.

Shi Fei took a deep breath, the cold wind in the valley entered his lungs, making him cold and a little painful, he slowly pulled down the nail pieces on his face, and said in a deep voice: "Ready." ”

Thousands of iron armor began to prepare, preparing to surround Chen Pingping, the outgoing president of the Supervision Yuan.

............ "His Majesty wants me to go back and asks me something. Chen Pingping sat in a wheelchair and said with a smile: "This is something I have thought of for a long time, but I didn't expect that he endured it until this time before he came to ask, and he didn't expect it. ”

He shook his head and sighed, "Your Majesty still doesn't know me well enough." ”

The Inspectorate official suddenly knelt down beside him, gritted his teeth and said, "You must obey the order!"

"No, I've been serving orders all my life, and I'm going to die now, what else can I do?" Chen Pingping said with a smile: "Your Majesty wants to ask me something, I'm ...... Why don't you want to ask him something in person?"

Then his face became indifferent, his eyes became cold, and he looked at the hundreds of people under the torch, and said in a cold voice: "In life, there are always some questions that have been in my heart for a long time to ask. ”

As soon as these words came out, the sound of hooves outside Dazhou City was like thunder, and the shadow of the armor reflected the moon, suppressing the light of the torch in an instant, only to see a piece of smoke and dust rising in the dark night behind the official road, and it only took a few breaths to kill the vicinity of the continuous convoy.

Thousands of iron armor filled the air in silence and murder.

Everyone's faces turned pale, and they looked at this scene in a daze, and the delicate women in the convoy, looking at this scene, couldn't help but scream in fright.

Chen Pingping sat in a wheelchair, her face still unchanged, but a mocking smile appeared on the corner of her lips. He didn't speak, and none of the subordinates of the Supervision Yuan made a move, they just held the handle of the iron hammer tightly, and the knuckles clasped the loops of the crossbow arrows, staring nervously at the cavalry rushing from the fields on both sides of the official road.

Unlike ordinary battles, it is very touching and confusing that thousands of cavalry did not take advantage of this momentum to rush directly into the convoy and start killing, but willingly gave up the advantage of cavalry momentum, slowed down at the last moment, and only turned into three sharp edges, surrounding the thirty carriages.

Thousands of ironclad cavalry, in the official road of black sè, red torches, and silver sè bright moon, formed a palpitating scene.

A slaughter.

The old servant pushed the wheelchair and slowly turned around, Chen Pingping propped his jaw on the armrest, looked at the general in the field next to the official road, and said with a smile: "Three thousand six hundred, you want to arrest me back, General Shi, do you look down on me too much?"

Shi Fei, who was riding on a horse, had been struggling in his heart, he did not issue an order to his subordinates to charge immediately, just because he hoped that things were still turning around, he was unwilling to completely turn his face with the Supervision Yuan like this, he didn't know Chen Pingping's backhand, and he didn't care about Chen Pingping's backhand, but he had to think about what kind of miserable experience he would face in his future life after he was loyal to His Majesty and became an immortal feud with the Supervision Yuan.

He was afraid of Chen Pingping, he was also afraid of Fan Xian, but he was even more afraid of His Majesty, so he came today, but he still didn't make a move.

Hearing Old Dean Chen's words, his body on the horse trembled slightly, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Old Dean, you...... If you resist the order and take in the prisoners, you will have to ......"

Before she finished speaking, Chen Pingping was already frowning and laughing: "Sure enough, it's always a matter of the courtiers resisting and disobeying the order, not the problem of the monarch sending troops to ambush and kill the old ministers who have returned home......," he sighed and said: "Our majesty, at such a moment, still hasn't forgotten to maintain his great and upright image, naturally, like me, I naturally have to play my own horn sè." ”

Thirty carriages, except for those carriages dragging luggage and women, the total number of escorts of the Supervision Yuan was no more than 100 people, but it was these more than 100 officials of the Supervision Yuan, facing the more than 3,000 cavalry of the Kyoto garrison, they did not retreat in the sè, and their faces were as indifferent as ever.

Shi Fei watched this scene quietly, and sighed in his heart, now the Supervision Yuan only has the old Dean Chen in his eyes, where is there His Majesty? In the face of His Majesty's will, these Supervision Yuan officials only know how to maintain the safety of the old dean, and they don't even need to think about it, no wonder His Majesty is so jealous of this matter.

There were shadows in the woods on both sides of the official road, and no one knew how many assassins from the six parts of the Supervision Yuan were inside.

Shi Fei suddenly felt a chill in his feelings.

Chen Pingping closed her eyes and leaned on her wheelchair, as if she was about to fall asleep in the night breeze.