Chapter 7 Chapter 7: Flickering, Darkness, and Wind and Rain

It was almost dusk, and there were clusters of black clouds in the forest around Bisensen, and there were no other people around.Shen Zhenzhu was very regretful, the imperial concubine invited her for an outing, she hadn't left the mansion for a long time, she was greedy for the pleasant scenery for a while, she even separated from the group and broke into this forest that she had never entered before.Fortunately, Hongrui was still by her side, and they could rely on each other, so they didn't panic. It was May, and the weather was getting hotter day by day, and the woods were unbearably hot, Shen Zhenzhu and Hongrui had a thin layer of sweat on their faces.Hongrui was impatient, thinking that the forest was huge and the sky was already dark, if she didn't go out sooner, she might end up camping in this forest, she complained in her heart, she said to Shen Zhenzhu: "Oops, I heard that there is a forest in the southern suburbs. The black pine forest is as large as several hundred acres, and the secret road in it is shaped like a spider web, so it must be here! Miss, there are three forked roads here, which one should we take?"

Shen Zhenzhu thought, this forest is getting more and more sideways, although I still remember the sidewalk when I broke into it, but there is another sideway when I go back, it is hard to guarantee that I will not get lost, of course I can make a mark as a guide, but the sky is dark, this method It doesn't work.Thinking of being lost with the brigade, the imperial concubine would definitely send her guards to look for them when she found out, but here she didn't even hear the sound of shouting.Or something else? There was a sudden sound of hoofbeats, and a horse appeared from among the trees in front of him. He was a medium-sized old man in a loose coarse cloth robe, with a long beard on his face and wrinkles around his eyes. The horse was an old green donkey.The old man half-closed his eyes, wobbled on the donkey's back and walked straight towards Shen Zhenzhu and the two.Surprised and delighted, Hongrui rushed forward and said, "Hello, old man!" The old man slowly opened his eyes, looked at the two people in front of him with great interest, and said with a smile: "You two are so handsome. Miss, you must have lost your way!" Hongrui was still wearing men's clothes, but he told her the truth.

Shen Zhenzhu hurriedly stepped forward to salute: "Our sisters lost their way in the forest because of their playfulness, so I ask the old man to show me which road can lead to the outside world?" The old man chuckled and said: "All the roads in this black pine forest can lead to the outside world If you meet someone who won't leave, I'm afraid you won't be able to leave for a year or so!" Shen Zhenzhu couldn't help but secretly marveled at the pun in his words.He also heard him say: "The old man is fine, let me guide you for a while!" Turning the donkey's head, Shen Zhenzhu and the two hurriedly followed.

The two of them rode back and forth for about twenty feet. Shen Zhenzhu saw a big gourd hanging behind the saddle of the donkey, and asked, "Does the old man live near here? How many children do you have at home?" The old man replied without turning his head: "The old man travels all over the world and has no children at home." Shen Zhenzhu said "Oh", and said: "The little girl and the old man are predestined, there is water in the gourd, the little girl is very thirsty, can I borrow a sip?" If others borrow water to drink, they are really very thirsty.Hearing this, the old man turned around and took down the gourd, and handed it to Shen Zhenzhu.

Shen Zhenzhu held the gourd, took a sip slowly, then handed it to Hongrui and said: "It's delicious, you have a sip too!" Spicy mixed with it, he was hesitating when he suddenly heard Shen Zhenzhu whispering in his ear: "Be careful, this man is deceitful!" Looking up, he saw that the old man had turned his head abruptly, the saddle of the donkey moved slightly, and a long sword with a cold light appeared on it. It's in his hand.On the contrary, Hongrui showed no fear, and asked, "What do you want to do?" The old man sneered, and said: "I have no choice but to obey someone's order to take the lives of you two. But I don't understand, I am careful everywhere, where did I show a flaw and let you know?"

Shen Zhenzhu raised her eyes and said: "You said that you are traveling all over the world. It is a long-term wandering on a donkey. It is common to drink water from a gourd. How can you be so clumsy that you have to turn around to take it? There are few calluses on the tiger's mouth on your palm. , there are many cocoons on the five fingers, it is clearly a person who has been dancing swords for a long time; as for the wine in the gourd, in my humble opinion, it is not an ordinary good wine in the world..." After a pause, he raised his head and said: "It is, it is made by the imperial court. Hu Jiu!"

"Okay, okay!" The old man was surprised for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "It's a pity, Princess Guangping, what a delicate woman." She was obviously going to kill someone, but she sighed. Hongrui had already pulled out the long soft sword wrapped around her waist, and said: "Don't rush to say it's a pity, but first ask about the sword in my hand, maybe we are here to sigh for you!" Fight up. The old man's swordsmanship was fierce and fierce, and his moves were all aggressive. Hongrui's swordsmanship was flexible and free, without the slightest stagnation. At the beginning, the two were evenly matched.But after a long time, because Hongrui's swordsmanship is mainly on the defensive, and Hongrui is young and weak, she gradually loses the wind. Hongrui had no choice but to walk around the tree while shouting to Shen Zhenzhu, "Miss, go!" dogfight.Hearing this, the old man gave a sinister laugh, and said "no one can leave", and suddenly stabbed more than ten swords at Hongrui.Hongrui was dripping with cold sweat, and made a quick decision, snapped and flicked the thumb of her left hand, with a "hiss", a finger came out in response, bleeding from the old man's mouth, the sword fell to the ground, the old man was slightly startled, and said: "Little Girl, there are still two things under my hand!"

Seeing the opportunity, Hongrui picked up Shen Zhenzhu and ran away, but heard a sudden crackling sound in the forest, seven or eight masked men rushed out from the forest and surrounded the two of them. It's just to lure them into Tianjin. These people's martial arts skills are not weak, even though the old man watched from the sidelines and did not participate in the fight, Hongrui was still at a loss, struggling very hard.Such a life-and-death fight is the worst distraction, Hongrui got an opening, kicked a thin masked man far away with a flying kick, turned around and saw that Shen Zhenzhu was bound by two masked men, and one was in a trance. Another fat masked man tapped the Quchi acupoint on his upper arm, his body froze, and a gleaming steel knife was placed on his neck.She glanced at Shen Zhenzhu, her face was ashen, she threw the soft sword on the ground in a slump, and said, "Who are you and who did you order? Tell us master and servant to be sensible ghosts!" Several masked men came up Bind her tightly.

The old man smiled slyly and didn't answer, then he half-closed his eyes and remained silent for a while, then opened them suddenly, his eyes were full of radiance, even though it was almost dark at this time, they were still piercing, very different from the downcast leisurely just now Rui said: "I'll argue with you after the old man becomes a princess!" After finishing speaking, he held the sword in his left hand and stabbed straight at Shen Zhenzhu.Hongrui wished she could replace her with her body, but Shen Zhenzhu could only secretly sigh "my life is over" and close her eyes to die.

"Dang", in the blink of an eye, a sword pierced in obliquely, barely separating the old man's sword.Shen Zhenzhu suddenly opened her eyes: the person who separated the sword was actually Li Chu, I saw that his face was ashen, his temples were a little loose, he seemed to be coming in a hurry, and the panic in his eyes had not yet dissipated.Behind him, there was already a masked man in green clothes fighting with the old man, the masked man in blue clothes was extremely agile, it was hard to tell the winner. For some reason, the masked men who besieged Shen Zhenzhu and Hongrui seemed to be forced by Li Chu's aura when they saw Li Chu, and they all mumbled and did not dare to step forward to fight, but involuntarily retreated a few steps each. Li Chu cut off the rope on Shen Zhenzhu's body.Without saying a word, Li Chu leaned over to check whether Shen Zhenzhu was injured, a drop of sweat slowly fell from his forehead, Shen Zhenzhu couldn't help but move at will, and stretched out his sleeves to wipe off the sweat for him, and then smoothly He stroked his loose hair, smiled faintly, and said in a low voice, "Chu, it's fine, don't worry."

"Haha, what a fast sword!" Hearing a long cry from the old man, he retracted his sword and stood up, the masked man in blue had no choice but to return his sword, looking at the old man hesitantly.The old man went up to Li Chu and bowed to the ground, saying: "The old minister sees His Highness King Guangping." He brushed his face and took off the false beard to reveal his real face, Li Chu was stunned, and said politely, "So it is Master Zhang Jiuling." Shen Zhenzhu couldn't help being surprised, Zhang Jiuling was originally the left minister of this dynasty, since Li Linfu Niu Xianke was slandered and dismissed in the 24th year of Kaiyuan, didn't he hear that he died of illness that year, why is he still showing up here? Zhang Jiuling thought he understood Shen Zhenzhu's thoughts, looked up to the sky and said with a chuckle: "Princess Guangping is extremely smart, she must know that life and death return, a thousand rivers have water and a thousand rivers and moons, thousands of miles are cloudless and thousands of miles are empty, the old man is now detached, although the princess is in the game, But there will always be a day of comprehension." Shen Zhenzhu chewed these few words carefully, still half understanding. Zhang Jiuling slapped his hands, and the masked men who followed him loosened the ropes on Hongrui's body, and each took off their black coats. They were all wearing dark green bright armor and nine silver belts.The Neifeilong Envoy was always commanded by the emperor himself, both Li Chu and Shen Zhenzhu couldn't help being surprised and full of doubts. I heard Zhang Jiuling laughing and said: "The old minister's trip is all under the orders of the emperor. The emperor really didn't deceive me. This trip is very enjoyable." He said a few words in Li Chu's ear, and Li Chu's doubts disappeared, and he turned to Zhang Jiuling. He bowed and said: "My lord, please report back to Your Majesty, and my grandson pays homage to God." Zhang Jiuling shook his head: "Then His Highness has to go to thank you in person. After finishing this errand, I really want to travel around the world and make the world my home. I don't know when I will come back again." Go back to Xijing." Standing by the side, the masked man in green clothes said, "Masters from the Emei school come out frequently, go back and tell your head, I, Zhang Qujiang, ask him how he is!" The masked man in blue replied respectfully, yes. Not much to say. While talking, Zhang Jiuling had put his sword back into its sheath, led the donkey's head, and casually said to the guards of the Flying Dragon Envoy who came with him: "You guys escort His Highness out of the forest first, and then return to the inner court to report to you!" Stepping on the green donkey, looking back and clasping fists, he sang with Li Chu and Shen Zhenzhu: "Your Highness, old minister, let's go! Princess, -- fate -- goodbye --" When the word "see" was said, the figure had disappeared in the forest, only The poems he chanted were blown by the wind, and every word could be heard: "Ten thousand trees can be soft to form knots, and thousands of flowers can be covered with luster. Good birds sing among the pines, and clear springs flow under the bamboos." Li Chu looked at Zhang Jiuling's whereabouts from a distance, seemed to be talking to himself, and seemed to whisper to Shen Zhenzhu: "Master Zhang has finally returned. In the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan, he was dismissed as Prime Minister and Li Linfu was appointed full-time. This is the reason for the chaos." Pearl never saw him depressed at this moment, and continued: "I always remember Master Zhang's famous song "Ganyu": "The orchid leaves are lush in spring, the osmanthus and flowers are bright and clean in autumn; I am happy with this business, and I am a festival." Now that the personnel affairs have changed, Master Zhang complained but was not angry at the beginning, now everything can be let go, which is not a bad thing." Li Chu said: "It's a pity that the court has gone to a good minister." Supporting Shen Zhenzhu: "It's getting late, let's go!" Shen Zhenzhu agreed, Fang took a step, and called out "Ouch", Li Chu's expression changed, and he asked anxiously, "What's wrong?" Shen Zhenzhu smiled wryly, frowned and said: "It's okay, I think I sprained my hamstring." Li Chu squatted down and saw that her ankle was already swollen to a high degree. Unstoppable, buried his head on his firm neck.The drizzle dripped down on his purple university robe, slippery without sticking to his hands, and rolled down.It turned out that when he heard the news, he didn't even have time to tell whether it was true or not, so he hurried here from the office of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. He didn't think about anything along the way, and he didn't dare to think about anything. Just like that, she was finally in his arms, lost. Having loved her for so long, it turned out that he was just deceiving himself, he was so afraid of losing her.He slightly curved his lips, with a smile on his face, and shouted loudly: "Let's go!" "Your Highness, be careful—" There seemed to be a familiar voice coming from a distance, he instinctively dodged in astonishment, a cold light passed close to his face, Shen Zhenzhu let out an exclamation, the masked man in blue and Hong Rui At the same time, the sword was drawn out of its sheath, and the hilt of the sneak attacker was swiftly knocked down.The man lost his weapon and continued to fight hard, but the masked man in blue with the help of Hongrui was like a tiger with wings, he subdued him after more than ten moves and twisted his hands behind his back.At first glance, the sneak attacker was actually one of the Neifeilong envoys just now. "Your Highness, Your Highness—" The person in the distance ran closer panting, with disheveled hair and mud on the white skirt, it turned out to be Dugu Jing.Seeing that the Inner Flying Dragon Envoy had been restrained, she stopped, breathed a sigh of relief from afar, and met Li Chuhan's eyes like a cold blade. move. "Bitch, it's all because of you!" The restrained Inner Dragon Envoy cursed at Dugu Jing, and suddenly fell to the ground with fatigue, motionless.The masked man in Tsing Yi hurriedly stepped forward to have a look, and said back to Li Chu, "Your Highness, this man has bitten his teeth to hide a poison sac and killed himself." Li Chu nodded: "This person is a dead man, there is no need to search him, and I will find nothing." His eyes coldly swept across the faces of the remaining Inner Dragon Envoys one by one, everyone shuddered and knelt down. He fell down a piece, and heard him say: "Must among the flying dragon envoys, intending to take advantage of today's events to mistreat this king." His eyes narrowed, he gritted his teeth and said to the masked man in Tsing Yi: "Kill without pardon!" The masked man in Tsing Yi is exactly the wind Sheng Yi had already understood Li Chu's intentions, and upon hearing his order, he swung his sword and slashed at the group of flying dragon envoys. The sound gradually subsided, and Li Chu vaguely heard Li Chu say to the flying dragon who was still alive: "Tomorrow, the king will report to His Majesty, the king and the princess were attacked by assassins in the forest, and you all fought to the death. You can rest assured!" Feelings in her heart, feelings of discomfort, grief, and turning back and forth, she raised her head and saw Li Chu staring at herself affectionately. Pillowing on his chest, he said slowly: "I understand, it's all because of me." If he didn't miss her, how could he only bring the people who raised her to rescue her, and let these Neifeilong envoys know that King Guangping raised her without permission. There are many martial arts masters, and there are many people with mixed opinions. If it reaches Xuanzong's ears, it will be hard to avoid the disaster of Li Ying and the three kings in the past. Li Chu said to Feng Shengyi and Dugu Jing nonchalantly: "Li Linfu really has many eyes and ears, and his moon hall was not in vain." It is said that the moon hall is a special hall in Li Linfu's house, which is extremely strong and secret, and is dedicated to discussion. It is used to frame and murder people in the court.