Fangzhou is about thousands of miles away from the capital Luoyang, mainly through Fangzhou, Xiangzhou, Dengzhou, and then north into Dugi Road, and finally arrived at Luoyang, the capital of God, Li Xian and his wife traveled by carriage, at least ten days, this time the King of Luling was secretly into Beijing, and the state and county officials were not alarmed along the way, and they lived in the inn under a pseudonym.

In the evening of that day, Li Xian and his entourage arrived in Xiangcheng County, Dengzhou, but for some reason, the news leaked, and Huang Weifang, the commander of Xiangcheng County, heard that King Luling had arrived in this county, and he did not dare to slack off, and immediately led the county Cheng and the county lieutenant out of the county.

At this time, because of the fatigue of the journey, Li Xian felt a little sick, his head was very painful, and he was unable to meet the magistrate who greeted him, so Wei Lian asked Li Chongrun to find him and said to him: "Your father is unwell and needs to rest, and he can't meet them, you go and negotiate with them, let them go back, and we will arrange food and lodging ourselves." ”

"The boy understood. ”

Li Chongrun stepped forward and saluted the officials: "Thank you Huang County Ling and all the county officials for coming to greet you, but my father is feeling sick and can't talk to everyone, please go back, we will find an inn to stay in." ”

Huang Weifang was startled, King Luling was sick, how could he let King Luling find an inn by himself, and hurriedly said: "There is a pavilion post in this county, which is relatively clean, and the place is also large, please tell the prince and the princess that you can stay at the pavilion station." ”

Li Chongrun went back to discuss with his mother, and at this time, Li Zhen slowly urged him forward, looked at the county commander and asked, "How could the Huang county commander know about our arrival?"

Huang Weifang didn't know Li Zhen, and thought he was the head of Li Xian's guards, but even if he was the head of the guards, he couldn't afford to be provoked by this small county order, so he hurriedly laughed and said: "Xia Guan heard the news from a businessman in the county, so he knew that the prince was going to pass through this county." ”

Li Zhen pondered for a moment and then asked, "What kind of businessman is it?"

Huang Weifang was a little unhappy in his heart, a small guard, he was so lenient, he held back the dissatisfaction in his heart, turned around and asked the county lieutenant: "Who did you listen to?"

The county lieutenant is a man in his thirties, with a big beard and a rather powerful appearance, he hurriedly said: "It's the shopkeeper of Jishengtang."

Huang Weifang said to Li Zhen again: "It is a pharmacy shopkeeper, he should have heard about it when he bought medicine in Nanyang." ”

At this time, Li Chongrun came back and said with a smile: "Since the Huang County Order has been prepared, then disturb, please take us to the post house"

The guards escorted the carriage and followed Huang Xian's order to the city, at this time, Di Yan urged the horse to Li Zhen's side and whispered to him: "It's strange, how did the government know that we were coming?"

Li Zhen nodded lightly, "I also think it's a little weird, but don't be involved for the time being, let's go to the post house first." ”

"Do you want me to go to the pharmacy first?"

Di Yan's suggestion was talking about Li Zhen's heart, this so-called Jishengtang actually knew the whereabouts of King Luling, which was really suspicious, Li Zhen quietly gave her a thumbs up, and laughed in a low voice: "Don't be alone, it's better to go with Qiu Niang." ”

Di Yanyan smiled, slowed down her horse, and found Zhao Qiuniang instead, whispering something to her.

Entering the county seat, the lively atmosphere is blowing in the face, although Xiangcheng County belongs to the Funiu Mountain Area, the tall and majestic Funiu Mountain runs through the county, and the lush mountains can be seen everywhere, but Xiangcheng County is the only way for Jingxiang to go to the Central Plains, and the traffic geography is very important, so the county has a large population and developed commerce.

The county street is full of people, both sides are covered with all kinds of shops, goods are piled up, the sound of selling comes and goes, wine shops, inns, green buildings can be seen everywhere, just close to the city gate, a building covering an area of about 20 acres appears in front of them.

The black lacquered gate, the plaque reads 'Xiangcheng Station, three big characters, it turns out that this is the Xiangcheng Station, Wei Lian looked at this post station through the car curtain, she was quite satisfied, and ordered: "Just stay here"

There were already two post men standing in front of the door, and they were full of smiles on their faces, and respectfully welcomed King Luling and his party into the post house.

There are more than a dozen courtyards in the post house, Li Zhen led a few of his subordinates to inspect the circle, and asked with a smile at the post man who accompanied him: "How can there be such a big post house in a small county?"

"Li Ye doesn't know, Xiangcheng County is located on the official road that must be passed from south to north, and the official reception is heavy, so although the post house is a little bigger, it is actually just enough.

"I see"

Li Zhen smiled again and asked, "How many days are there to go to Luoyang from here?"

"It depends on how to walk, if you take the flat avenue, from Yexian County, Xiangcheng this road, it takes about five days, if you go directly north to Luyang Pass across Funiu Mountain, you can get there in four days, but it is not safe to take Funiu Mountain, there are bandits, it is best to take the official road, not bad for such a day. ”

"That makes sense, are you safe in Xiangshan County?"

Yi Cheng laughed, "Look at what Li Ye said, there are thieves and night thieves everywhere, and Xiangshan County will certainly be no exception, but even if he eats the bear's heart and leopard gall, no one dares to attack the prince, not to mention that there are still dozens of guards who are eyeing him, Li Ye is too worried." ”

That being said, Li Zhen was not worried about the thief Night Road, at this time, he saw a healer with two medicine boys hurriedly walking in under the guidance of the guards, Li Zhen walked up and asked, "Where is the healer?"

The doctor hurriedly saluted and said, "Below is Wang Yide from Jishengtang, and it was the county order that asked me to come to see a doctor." ”

It's Jishengtang again, Li Zhen frowned, "What is the relationship between your Jishengtang and the county order?"

Yi Cheng came over and said with a smile: "Jishengtang is the largest pharmacy in this county, and this Wang Doctor is the signboard of Jishengtang, and no one in this county knows about its reputation for decades. ”

Li Zhen glanced at this Wang Doctor again, and saw that he was about sixty years old, with a goatee, looking very honest, and he was a local, so Li Zhen nodded, "Go ahead"

Doctor Wang nodded to Li Zhen, and followed the guard to the backyard quickly, Li Zhen slowly walked to the door of the backyard, and saw the tall female guard Su Yue checking the medicine box in the doctor's hand, Li Zhen glanced at her meaningfully, and then turned around and walked to the front yard.

As soon as she walked to the front yard, Zhao Qiuniang walked in, and Li Zhen didn't see Di Yan, so she asked, "Where is Ah Yan?"

"She was still spying on Jishengtang, and I asked her to come back, but she wouldn't. ”

"Did you find anything, and what is the background of this Jishengtang?"

Zhao Qiuniang said with a smile: "This pharmacy is opened by Pei Shunqing, the county governor of this county, of course, it has a very good relationship with the official, the shopkeeper Fang Jie just came back from Nanyang, yesterday we drove away a lot of people when we stayed at the Nanyang Yuelai Inn, this Fang Jie is one of them, so he knew our details, so he rushed back to report to the city overnight, and naturally there was the scene just now." ”

Only then did Li Zhen understand that it seemed that he was too careful, so he smiled and said: "Since this is the case, let Ah Yan come back quickly, there is no need to monitor it anymore." ”

"My little junior sister has a stubborn temper, I can't stop him, why don't I lead myself to find her, she is on the second floor of the Shifang Inn next door to the pharmacy, the westernmost room. Zhao Qiuniang smiled and walked quickly into the courtyard where she lived.

Jishengtang is a famous old shop in Xiangcheng County, and it is also the largest pharmacy in Dengzhou, located in the middle of the county, covering an area of about eight acres, there are more than a dozen famous doctors sitting in the hall for consultation, it is very famous in Dengzhou, every day there are patients from all over Dengzhou come to see a steady stream of patients, many patients live in the pharmacy for a long time, so to some extent, this pharmacy is also a hospital.

It was getting dark, but there was still a long queue outside the pharmacy, all of whom were patients from all over the world who had come to seek medical treatment, most of them lying on portable bamboo couches, covered with thick bedding, accompanied by their families.

At this time, a horse-drawn carriage came and stopped in front of the door of the pharmacy, and several men who looked like domestic servants lifted a portable bamboo couch out of the carriage, and a person was lying on it, covered by a futon, and the appearance was clearly visible.

Several family members carried the bamboo couch directly into the pharmacy, causing a discussion among the patients in the queue, and some people shouted: "I want to queue up"

But the family ignored it and went straight to the pharmacy, and they did not stop in the lobby, until they entered a small door, passed through a long corridor, and came to a room.

At this moment, the futon lifted itself to reveal a young and handsome face, a tall and burly young man, with a slightly longer face, a high nose, and two beautiful mustaches on his lips, he was dressed in a white samurai suit, and a long sword at his waist, jumped off the bamboo couch, and walked quickly into the room.

At the door of the room, a middle-aged man knelt down and saluted respectfully, "See Major General"

The young man snorted, ignored the middle-aged man, walked into the room and sat down on the soft couch, "Has Li Xian arrived in Xiangcheng?"

"Returning to the major general, I just arrived an hour ago and have already moved into the pavilion. ”

"You guys are well arranged, what about County Lieutenant Pei?"

"The lowly has sent for him, and he will come at once. ”

As soon as the words fell, the burly figure of Captain Pei Shunqing appeared at the door, and he also saw the young man, and hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down, "See the major general"

Thirty years ago, the Goguryeo Kingdom was destroyed by the Tang Dynasty generals Xue Rengui and Su Dingfang, and hundreds of thousands of nobles and large families were moved into the interior of the Tang Dynasty and lived in the Central Plains, Jianghuai, Bashu and Guanlong.

However, the restoration movement of the remnants of Goguryeo has never been stopped, they established the Restoration Association in Silla, elected the general Jian Muzen as the Restoration Chief, secretly contacted the relics who were dispatched to various parts of the Tang Dynasty, and established the Restoration Branch in various parts of the Tang Dynasty, because there were thousands of large Goguryeo households scattered in the Dengzhou area, they established the Restoration Branch in Xiangcheng County, with the county governor Pei Shunqing as the leader.

However, the Restoration Society was only their internal name, and they were called the Goryeo Mutual Aid Association externally, mainly to help the Goguryeo people who migrated to the Tang Dynasty adapt to the life of the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible, which was a request made by the last captured king of Goguryeo, Treasure King Gozang, to the Tang Emperor.

In order to appease the Goguryeo nobles, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi acquiesced in their establishment of this Goryeo Mutual Aid Association, which is the predecessor and origin of the Goryeo Restoration Association.

Decades passed, and their actions made many people in the Tang Dynasty aware of their true intentions, but no one thought that they would succeed, and as time passed, the hope of rebuilding the Goguryeo kingdom became more and more slim.

This Jeseidang is where their branch is located, and the main role of the Fuguo branch is to contact the people of the country and collect money, and once Goguryeo is restored, they will all move back to their homeland, and although the homeland has been destroyed for 30 years, the Goguryeo people have never given up.

Jian Dongxi was mainly active in Luoyang, he donated a lot of money to Wu Sansi, so that the restoration of the country was protected by Wu Sansi, this time Jian Dongxi came from Luoyang, was entrusted by Wu Sansi, assassinated Li Xian, the king of Luling.

Jian Dongxi has his own considerations, once Li Xian is killed, the Li royal family will inevitably be inseparable from the Wu family, and when the two clans merge and civil strife occurs in the Tang Dynasty, it will be a good opportunity for them to restore Goguryeo.

"County Lieutenant Pei, this Tang official is quite tasteful" Jian Dongxi couldn't help but smile coldly when he saw that Pei Shunqing actually came to see him in an official uniform.

Strictly speaking, Pei Shunqing can only be regarded as half a Goguryeo, his grandfather is a Han doctor living in Goguryeo, his ancestral home is Dengzhou, after the destruction of Goguryeo, his father took him back to his hometown Dengzhou, studied in Dengzhou Prefecture since he was a child, and was admitted to the Ming Economic Department four years ago, and served as the county lieutenant of Xiangxian County, and was soon pulled into the Restoration Congress by Jian Dongxi.

Pei Shunqing heard the voice of the young general, and he was frightened, and hurriedly said: "The humble post is inspecting the county, and I dare not wear an official uniform." ”

"That's it, I don't blame you, I just want to know how many guards Li Xian has around him, as well as the detailed map of the pavilion. ”

"Back to the young general, Li Xian had about fifty guards around him, of which twenty were guards of Luling Palace, and the other thirty were internal guards who had come to protect him. ”

"Internal guard?" Jian Dongxi was taken aback, "Could it be that Li Zhen is also by his side?"

"I heard that there is a commander Li, but I wonder if it's Li Zhen?"

"Nonsense, isn't the deputy commander of the internal guard who is he?"

Jian Dongxi was suddenly a little upset, pacing back and forth in the room with his hands in his hands, he didn't expect Li Zhen to be by Li Xian's side, so it would be difficult, I'm afraid he would have to change his plan.

Pei Shunqing asked cautiously, "The young general seems to care about this Li Zhen very much?"

"How can you not care?"

Jian Dongxi said worriedly: "He is very famous in Luoyang, and he is both wise and brave when he loses Xue Huaiyi and Wei Tuan'er, even Wu Sansi is a little jealous of him, and with him to protect Li Xian, I'm afraid things will not be easy to do."

"Or wait for them to hit the road before they ambush them. Fang Jie, the shopkeeper of the pharmacy next to him, suggested in a low voice.

"Nope"

Jian Dongxi categorically rejected this suggestion, "I don't know if they will go to Luyang Pass tomorrow, once they go to Luyang Pass, there will be army guards, there will be no chance to get off, tonight is the last chance, we must seize it, the key is how to start?"

Pei Shunqing hesitated, and then said: "Actually, there is a plan for lowly duties, maybe it will work."

"What plan?" Jian Dongxi was overjoyed, "Tell me quickly"

Pei Shunqing whispered a few words, and Jian Dongxi nodded again and again, this is indeed a good way.