Chapter 30 Chapter 29: The Eve of the Battle

After a rough count, there were about twenty-eight corpses, including old and young, women and children, basically all of Zhan Chongzhao's family members. Zhan Chongzhao's calamity probably came from Mianning's investigation of Qingchen's disappearance in various yamen. In order to prevent this case from being linked to Tao Xingyu and Wang Weizhong's cases, Xie Zongyuan and others took precautions and dumped Zhan Chongzhao's family here.Another victim of the underground flower society manipulating the test, Wang Qiu thought silently. After a while, more than a dozen large stones fell from the sky "boom tom tom tom" and hit the place where Wang Qiu had just fallen, and then the messy wood and gravel "boomed" and rolled down, blocking the exits on both sides.

"Have you found all the nearby stones?" This was Mingying's voice. "My lord, everything that can be moved has been smashed down," the subordinate said, "If you fall from such a high place, you will be seriously injured if you don't die. Adding stones and messy trees, it is estimated that he will have difficulty flying with his wings." "Huh... this guy is a little bit capable, so you have to be careful. When it dawns tomorrow, you guys go down and have a look. If you want to see people, you want to see dead bodies, understand?" "Obey!"

"Uh, this," Mingying said again, "If you're still alive, you'll be shot!" "Obey!" A few people muttered on the cliff for a while, and then the voice gradually faded away, and it seemed that they also wanted to find a shelter from the wind to rest for a while.When the valley was quiet again, Wang Qiufang crawled out of the hole, leaned against the roots of the tree, rubbed his sore joints, and then bandaged the wound—even he himself felt that it was a miracle that he could escape from the knives of these murderous guys. , indicating that tomorrow will not kill him.

There is one more day to bet against Xie Zongyuan, can Yugege get reinforcements to go to Xiangshan as scheduled to resolve this unexpected disaster?I don't know if Yeletu turned the corner and returned to the capital safely? Leaning on the root of the tree, he fell into a deep sleep for a while. After waking up, he looked at the sky. Wang Qiu dragged his tired body over the obstacles formed by boulders and chaotic trees, and disappeared into the night after a while. In the early morning, the mist formed after the rain still enveloped the mountain. Mingying commanded his men to climb down the rope and search in the valley. Then the bad news spread to the cliff one by one:

"Report, there is blood near the tree hole." "Report, there are his footprints at the bottom of the valley." "Report, there are traces of overturning in the southeast. Judging from the broken branches and blood drops, it should be him." "Report……" Mingying's face was livid, and he roared like an explosion: "Report a ghost! Keep chasing!" Mingying firmly believed in two points: first, Wang Qiu suffered serious injuries from the fierce battle last night, and his physical strength and energy were greatly exhausted, so it was impossible to run too far in a short period of time; Dao, make sure he can't fly without wings.

In terms of search, Mingying has received special training on sticking poles, and has unique and efficient skills and means: finding footprints in seemingly ordinary grass and rocky hills; judging fugitives based on the degree of grass stem breakage and grass juice seepage Height, weight, etc.; analyze the degree of injury from the blood spots, as well as the way and direction of escape... The search continued until noon, and new problems emerged as the terrain changed: a steep and abrupt mountain rose up from the ground, splitting the flat hillside in two, one road slanted to the north, and the other winding to the deepest part of the mountain .

Dividing troops deep in the mountains is a big taboo in hunting, especially when the opponent is Wang Qiu, who is easy to be broken up and wiped out.But Mingying has no choice.In view of the possibility of detours to the middle of the mountain in the north direction, Mingying decided to personally lead three elite men to follow up, and the other three went to the depths of the mountain. The team led by Mingying was progressing smoothly. Two hours later, a blood-stained straw rope was found at the corner of a sheltered rock pile, proving that Wang Qiu had indeed taken this path, and the straw rope that bandaged the wound was replaced.

After chasing tens of miles at a rapid pace, a mountain stream about ten feet wide blocked the way. Because it was the dry season in winter, the water in the mountain stream was only half of the usual level. Because it rained all night, the water flow was very fast, and it was mixed with water from the upper stream. Debris, cloudy water.With Mingying's physical strength, he had to use all his strength to barely leap over, but the other three were clearly unable to do so. Without Mingying's instructions, several men picked a big tree of similar thickness and cut it down nearby, cut off the branches, carried it over to the stream and used it as a wooden bridge.Mingying lightly jumped, tapped her toes in the middle of the wooden bridge, and then jumped to the north bank, and the other three passed by one by one.

Suddenly, a white light flashed in the stream under the bridge, flashed in the air, and the wooden bridge broke in the middle. The person at the end reacted extremely quickly and jumped back to the south bank before his body lost his balance. Fall down abruptly. "Wang Qiu!" Mingying shouted out loud, watching the three figures writhing and wrestling in the stream, but helpless.Not long after, with two screams, Jianshui rolled down with a large swath of bright red.Wang Qiu dexterously climbed to the shore by the rocks beside the stream, step by step approaching the masked man who was left alone on the south bank.

"Fight with him," Mingying hissed, "I'll help you!" Just as Mingying retreated, ran up, and jumped over the mountain stream, Wang Qiu had already rushed forward and twisted into a ball with the masked man. Before Mingying stepped forward to help, Wang Qiu pulled the man down the mountain stream by surprise, and then After some splashing in the water, the man was stabbed twice in the throat and died. "Wang Qiu!" Mingying gritted her teeth in hatred.Wang Qiu is a southerner with excellent water skills, fighting with him underwater is tantamount to seeking death.Wang Qiu strode to the edge of the stream and stood opposite him, with unprecedented hostility in his eyes.

Mingying tore off the mask and slowly pulled out the knife from its sheath. "My lord, you are the only one left!" Wang Qiu said coldly. "So what? Are you confident that you are my opponent?" Mingying insisted. Wang Qiu shook his head: "There is no point in discussing this issue. What I care about is to continue the topic of last night—what mission do you have, and what conspiracy are you and Xie Zongyuan planning? At this moment, there are only you and me here, so don't worry about spreading the word." "As I said, it has nothing to do with the underground flower fair," Mingying said bluntly, "I hate gambling and never enter a casino." Wang Qiu smiled but said, "Maybe, Lord Mingying, once it was your turn to be on duty, but you went to the gambling house to try your luck. The card wind was very smooth that day, and you won a lot of money, but it happened that you were on duty. Something big happened at the location…” "You know too much!" Mingying roared, swinging the knife in the air with one hand several times, "I will definitely kill you, definitely!" "After that incident, my lord suffered setbacks in his official career. He was depressed for a while, and drank his sorrows all day long. Then who secretly operated to make him cheer up, and he was promoted all the way to his current position? The kindness of a drop of water should be repaid by a spring." , In recent years, the adults have done a lot of things for them..." Mingying had regained his composure, and said: "These are all your conjectures without any basis, even if you talk about it in front of the crown prince, it won't help, let alone you are destined not to escape Xiangshan!" "Xie Zongyuan manipulated the examination, controlled the odds of the gambling list, and at the same time used Ha Feng'a and others to spread false insider information, luring many court officials to participate in heavy gambling, and often lost all their money to the point of bankruptcy, and committed suicide in the end. Those who go to jail, "Wang Qiudao, "if they were gambling for profit, the Underground Flower Club would not have taken such a risk. There's a reason for that..." "I don't want to bullshit with you!" Mingying took advantage of his eloquence to make a steep leap, almost crossing the mountain stream, and rushed towards Wang Qiu.Wang Qiu turned and ran. However, the terrain on both sides of the bank was relatively flat on the north bank, with an open space of about twenty or thirty feet, and the dense grass was only further north. Wang Qiu ignored the lethality of this open space to himself when calculating—— From yesterday morning until now, he only hid in the valley for a short nap, with more than a dozen lacquers hanging on his body, exhausted physically and mentally to the extreme, the distance that usually flies by now seems extraordinarily far away.After only running for more than ten steps, Mingying threw a tiger from behind and fell to the ground heavily, pincer-like giant palms grabbed his neck.Wang Qiu twisted vigorously and unloaded Mingying to the side.The two rolled and fought on the ground for more than ten rounds. Wang Qiu started to see sweat on his forehead, and his shots slowed down obviously—after all, after days of running around and fighting fiercely, the human body is not made of iron after all. Britain?Wang Qiuyi was slowed down by Mingying, who took advantage of the gap, smashed open the door in front of his chest with two heavy punches, and hit him hard in the chest with his right elbow.Wang Qiu's eyes went dark and he lost his composure, Ming Ying didn't want to waste the rare opportunity to defeat the enemy, kicking and hitting him relentlessly.Under the severe pain, Wang Qiu hugged Mingying's thigh tightly and rolled over. The two hugged, pinched, bit, dug, grabbed, and all the women's vicious methods were used on the stage.At the same time, the position where the two wrestled and wrestled kept moving northward, and they were about to roll into the tangled grass overgrown with thorns. At this time, Mingying was miserable, annoyed that she shouldn't be in a hurry to win, but was pulled down by Wang Qiu and turned into a hand-to-hand fight. Her good physical advantage was gone, and she was trying to get rid of the entanglement with the help of the chaotic grass.He firmly believes that as long as he can stand up, he can definitely take the initiative in the scene. Rolled, rolled again...the two finally rolled into the thorn bushes. Probably due to the lack of stamina, Wang Qiu's strength of struggle suddenly weakened. Mingying pressed him down with all his strength, and grabbed his neck with both hands again, and said with a grinning smile: "Hurry up and die, people like you live so long in this world." One day, I will have no peace!" As he spoke, he suddenly increased his strength, Wang Qiu kicked his legs, making the vines and thorns around him rattling, and his face gradually turned blue... At this time, the sound of horseshoes suddenly sounded like a gust of wind and a shower, like a thousand troops and horses rolling in, and the momentum was very huge.Mingying also heard it, and looked up in shock, only to see hundreds of cavalry appearing across the mountain stream, rushing towards them in a menacing manner! Wang Qiu's rescuers are here! Mingying reacted very quickly, she immediately threw off Wang Qiu's entanglement, her body bounced off the ground, and rushed into the red leaf forest on the north side of the chaotic grass two or three times. The cavalry came swiftly like a gust of wind, and the leader was Yugege, who was brave and heroic. She glared angrily, and shot four or five arrows in the direction of Mingying's escape, and said coquettishly: "Don't let my aunt see you in the future!" Wang Qiu lay leisurely on the ground, seeing familiar faces such as Yu Gege and Wei Sie Baylor approaching, his heart relaxed, he wanted to say something but he was stuck in his throat, and then he didn't know anything... When he woke up again, his nose was full of fragrance, and he opened his eyes to see that he was lying in Yugege's boudoir. The wound had been washed and ointment was applied, and he felt cool and comfortable. "Mr. Wang is awake!" Yu Gege, who had been staying by the bed, cheered, and quickly brought lotus seed soup with rock sugar.Wei Xibei Le, who was sitting in the living room, came in with the prince Mianning, and said with a smile: "Mr. Wang should thank the prince for escaping this time. Yesterday, my sister ran back to the city and cried and begged the prince to transfer troops. The prince Before the fourth watch, I stayed outside the palace, waited for the emperor to wake up and hurriedly played the matter of Xiangshan, and after getting the soldier talisman, I went straight to the Ministry of War to mobilize the soldiers and horses of the Xiaoqi Battalion, and I tossed for a whole morning..." Mianning raised his hand to stop him, and said with a smile, "It's a great fortune as long as Mr. Wang returns safely... Can you see the true colors of those people?" "Mingying, Deputy Lieutenant of the Eight Banners Infantry in Beijing!" Wang Qiu said firmly. "It's him again?" Mian Ning was rather surprised, "This guy is deeply involved, I'm afraid it can't be explained by jealousy, and more than ten soldiers were mobilized privately, this case alone is a felony of beheading!" "Yes, although the trip to Xiangshan was full of dangers, but through the two conversations with Mingying, I confirmed some of Weichen's thoughts, and the harvest..." Wang Qiu seemed to have a lot to say, but he was really exhausted, and a question suddenly popped up: "Where's Yeletu? Did he run back? Was he injured?" Mianning and Wei Sie Baylor looked at each other, and Wei Sie Baylor said solemnly: "After saving Mr. Wang at noon, the rest of the troops continued to search the mountain, and found the body of the guard of the Prince's Mansion on the side of the mountain road near Nanshan Col, with more than ten knives in his body. The body of another bodyguard was found in the woods, and he died together with a masked man. The face of the masked man was chopped to pieces, and his identity could not be verified... No Yeletu was found. whereabouts……" "At least there is hope of survival," Wang Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. "With the brutality of Mingying and his gang, it is unlikely that they will be caught alive." "I hope so. Now...with Mr. Wang's physical condition, can the Xiangshan duel take place? If you can't support it, you can ask for a postponement." Mianning said with concern. Wang Qiu shook his head: "No need, the betting contract is a contract of life and death, even if it is carried, it must be carried to Xiangshan, and it cannot give Xie Zongyuan an excuse to avoid the war." Mian Ning groaned: "Mr. Wang is a man of the Jianghu after all, he must obey the rules of the Jianghu..." Then Yugege came in with two big bowls of tonic soup, Mianning didn't say any more, instead talked about some irrelevant topics and left.Sending off the prince, Wei Sie Baylor came back much more relaxed, and introduced some details of the process of the prince's military deployment. It turned out that he was as expensive as the prince, and he did not have power other than the emperor as outsiders imagined. On the contrary, he was supported by various forces. Constraints, it can be said that this troop transfer is essentially a touchstone, testing which government offices, which officials, and which military camps can be trusted and can play a role at critical moments. "In this way, the Xiaoqi Battalion must be the crown prince's confidant team?" Wang Qiu asked. "no." Wei Xie Baylor and Yu Gege denied it with a smile at the same time, and then Wei Xie Baylor explained: "The prince's personal deployment of troops is a remarkable event, and his every move is subject to scrutiny from all sides, including the emperor, so the prince will never send the real direct line Exposed to the public, on the other hand, it is a good thing for the prince to say that the whole process of troop deployment has bumps and bumps, and if all the yamen and military camps dare not to obey, it will arouse the suspicion of the emperor, which is very detrimental to the prince." "So that's how it is," Wang Qiu sighed, "The officialdom is deep, and the knacks in it are much more sophisticated than gambling skills. Wang is really ashamed of his own gambling skills." "There is a specialization in art," Wei Sie Baylor said, "The gambling in the casino is nothing more than money, but the gambling in the officialdom is about wealth and life. If you don't do it, you will be ransacked and hundreds of people's heads will fall to the ground." "Say a few words less, Mr. Wang needs to rest." Yu Gege scolded. Wei Sie Baylor was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and left. After eating, Wang Qiu fell into a deep sleep. This sleep was very sound, and he didn't wake up until after dinner.Yu Gege said that the servant guarding Qigan Lane reported just now that Yeletu had not yet appeared. During the period, the Eight Banners who were in charge of monitoring Xi Da Niang reported that there were frequent changes in Xi Da Niang's brothel, and he suspected that there should be a big move in the near future; in addition, Mr. Dong sent someone to come As a test, ask Mr. Wang if he will play as scheduled. Wang Qiu tried to stand up, but he felt pain everywhere, especially the wounds in more than a dozen places were itchy, painful and numb. He frowned slightly and lay down again, thinking for a while and said, "Send someone to Baolong Casino for me. Sending the word means that Wang will be on time for Xiangshan's appointment!" When Yu Gege went out to make arrangements, Wei Sie Baylor came in again, just in time to hear Wang Qiu sigh and asked why.Wang Qiu said: "For such a big bet, you have to go to the scene to inspect it the night before to prevent the opponent from tampering. Unfortunately, you can't get out of bed right now, and the city gate has been closed." Wei Xibei Le said with a smile : "Mr. Wang don't need to worry too much, from noon today to tomorrow morning, it is impossible for anyone to enter and leave Xiangshan." Wang Qiu looked at him puzzled. Wei Xibei Le said that the prince's deployment of troops is a plan to kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, he rescued Mr. Wang, and on the other hand, he blocked all the entrances and exits of Xiangshan Mountain under the pretext of hunting down the murderers, so that Mingying and others trapped inside could not escape. No manpower can enter, so as to ensure that tomorrow's bet will be carried out as scheduled. "The prince is really far-sighted, and Wang himself is not as good as it." Wang Qiu said with surprise and joy. Wei Xie Baylor said with a smile: "The crown prince is not thinking about the success or failure of the game, but... Mr. Wang, does the Xiangshan game know how many gamblers will come to the mountain to watch it?" "Well—at least four or five hundred people." Weiss Baylor held out a finger. "A thousand people?" Wang Qiu was shocked. "At least 10,000 people!" Wei Xi Baylor said solemnly, "This is the number of gates officially issued by Ying Tianfu. There must be other ways to sneak in during the introduction. It is estimated that the total number will reach 20,000 people!" "Twenty thousand..." Wang Qiu said anxiously, "If such a large-scale gambling is held at the root of the imperial city and at the foot of the emperor, if it reaches the ears of the emperor, I'm afraid, I'm afraid..." "Yes, Mr. Dong, Xie Zongyuan and the others are afraid that the world will not be chaotic, and they only want as many gamblers as possible, but the crown prince has many issues to consider. First of all, we must ensure safety, and there must be no lantern festivals, temple fairs, etc. The stampede and crowding incident, the second is not to make trouble, think about it, a small Xiangshan gathered 20,000 people at once, what is the concept of 20,000 people? The entire capital, including the barracks outside the city, has a total strength of only tens of thousands of people. Someone spread rumors and instigated unreasonable gamblers to attack the capital, who can resist it?" Wang Qiu was sweating profusely when he heard this, and said in a twitch, "So Wang has caused a lot of trouble for the crown prince, I'm really ashamed..." "That's why the prince sent troops to garrison at the crossings of Xiangshan to deter and intimidate the gamblers, so that the gamblers are not allowed to make trouble and make noise at will. He also needs to strengthen the garrison at the gates of the city. All the barracks are ready to fight at any time." Speaking of this, Wei Sie Baylor smiled and said, "It was originally a small matter, but the prince did it as a big event. There is a gap in his chest." "If the Xiangshan VS bet ends smoothly, without any disturbances and no casualties, it will be a great success for the crown prince, and he can use this to build his prestige, right?" A burst of sadness surged in Wang Qiu's heart. After all, he was just a small pawn on the prince's chessboard, life and death were not important, what mattered was how much he could play. As if seeing through his thoughts, Weiss Baylor sighed and said: "Once a general is successful, his bones are exhausted. The way of a king should be like this. As a minister, of course you have to do your duty and take what you need by the way." "yes……" Wang Qiu replied with a wry smile, looking through the window lattice, the bright and clear moon outside the window was looming among the thick clouds, which seemed to herald the unpredictable future of the Battle of Xiangshan tomorrow.