Chapter 11 first quarter

The weather in July was fine until the twenty-sixth, when the sky turned a leaden silver.There was no sign of rain, but a thin, cloudy mist hung in the air.Looking north from the capital, the ridgelines of the distant mountains were all gone. When Rong Xiaoshan stepped out of the carriage, he kept wiping his forehead and cheeks with a silk handkerchief.The hot air had a sticky feeling, which annoyed him very much. In order to avoid being discovered, he changed to three carriages on the way and arrived at the house near Jiyuan Gate.Meng Zhen and Mao Gonglei followed behind him respectfully.In the short distance between the carriage and the house door, Mao Gonglei was still vigilantly looking left and right, making sure that no one was paying attention.

The room was filled with the smell of sweat from forty or fifty men huddled together for a long time.Rong Xiaoshan frowned and covered his nose with his hands.Although he personally planned this operation, he never came to inspect it in person beforehand. Bedding and pillows were scattered on the floor in the hall—the only way to accommodate fifty people in such a small room was to sleep on the floor.The kitchen is not big enough either, and they can only eat dry food for two meals a day.Of course, the latrines were not enough, so they simply dug a dozen or so holes in the backyard, and then covered them with sand and mud.

"My God..." Rong Xiaoshan said with disgust, "Don't let Zhang Shuai find out because of the smell..." Several resting subordinates heard it, but did not respond.However, Meng Zhen noticed that their eyes were filled with unpleasantness. There are three other houses like this nearby, mobilizing as many as 200 people.In order not to draw attention to such a large-scale transfer, Rong Xiaoshan spent twenty days filling the four houses one by one in batches. Although Yu Runsheng said that there might be Zhang Shuai's spies hiding among the Rong's troops, and such a big mobilization should not be made, but Rong Xiaoshan can't control so much.Only when he is surrounded by so many subordinates can he feel safe enough - it is still uncertain whether Yu Runsheng will play tricks.

——Anyway, if the matter is revealed, father will only blame that Yu... Rong Yushan also agreed with his son to bring more troops. This precious son is the pinning of all his hopes in life-of course, the enemy also knows this fact.Rong Yushan will not let anyone take advantage of it. "The one surnamed Yu...how did he know Zhang Shuai would come today?" Rong Xiaoshan asked as he walked up the stairs. "That woman's servant bought more vegetables at the market this morning than usual." Meng Zhen replied. "There were two such situations in the past, and Zhang Shuai's car was detected as a result."

"Hehe..." Rong Xiaoshan reached the second floor, leaned against a window, and peeped out through the hole in the window lattice. "'Curse Army Master' must not have imagined that he was betrayed by a table of food and drink, right?" From the window, you can see the street extending from Jiyuanmen to Wendingfang.There are not many pedestrians on the streets in the afternoon.There was a faint smell of barbecue outside. "Today is Royal Hunting again..." Rong Xiaoshan said with a smile. "The emperor wants to hunt, and we will also hunt today... By the way, who is in command over there today? Di Bin? Or that... sickle head?"

"It's Di Bin." Mao Gonglei said. "I didn't see the sickle head, probably because I was afraid that he would be too conspicuous?" "That dwarf? It's easier to deal with..." Rong Xiaoshan said with a serious expression. "Remember, after they succeed, we have to hurry out and take the credit for whatever we say." Meng Zhen and Mao Gonglei nodded at the same time. Mao Gonglei was laughing secretly: Zhang Shuai is not dead yet, but you are thinking about these things... Then came the silent wait.Rong Xiaoshan obviously lacked patience. He paced up and down the room with his hands crossed, and then went to the hall below, giving some meaningless orders, such as asking his subordinates to empty the center of the hall and put away their weapons. Arrange them neatly on the ground, and let him inspect them one by one... When he returned to the second floor, he personally monitored the situation of Jiyuan Gate, but he got tired of it after a while...

"Damn it!" Rong Xiaoshan stomped his feet, his thick brows furrowed into a line. "Is the information fake? Is Yu Runsheng lying to us?" Mao Gonglei couldn't help but said: "My lord, this is what an ambush is like..." "You don't need to teach me this!" Rong Xiaoshan turned his anger to Mao Gonglei. "I can read military books at the age of four! What about you? How many books have you read?" Mao Gonglei looked at his righteous brother, Meng Zhen shook his head, Mao Gonglei had no choice but to remain silent. "Car!" The subordinate under surveillance whispered, interrupting Rong Xiaoshan's excitement of scolding.

"let me see!" Rong Xiaoshan leaned closer to the hole in the paper window, and saw a very ordinary-looking carriage pulled by two skinny horses, driving into the small Jiyuan Gate, without stopping to be inspected by the guards, walking straight into Wendingfang , the speed is neither slow nor urgent. "It seems so." Meng Zhen's voice was as calm as a rock. Looking at the car, Rong Xiaoshan was sweating all over his body - not because of the heat, he knew how much today's actions meant to him.Apart from Zhang Shuai's big trouble, there is no enemy in "Feng Yilong" who can threaten his father and son—Rong Yushan has gathered a large number of people in the "Fengxiangfang Branch". Immediately set off to the head office of Jiuweifang to "force the palace" to Boss Han.Then about a year and a half later, after everything in the gang was pacified and straightened out, he——Rong Xiaoshan became the new boss of "Feng Yilong", the number one member of the underworld in the capital...

"Can we attack on this road?" Rong Xiaoshan asked anxiously. "Notify the people in the front rooms to cut off the way first, and then attack from here...Mao Gonglei, you do it..." "But, I don't know if Zhang Shuai himself is in the car..." Meng Zhen reminded. Rong Xiaoshan's face flushed red - in a hurry, he even forgot such a basic point. The car gradually walked away on the main road, and turned right at an intersection—it was indeed heading for the mistress's house.Rong Xiaoshan was even more excited. Mao Gonglei went downstairs and ordered everyone to hang up their weapons and be ready for orders at any time.

"Di Bin will notify us with a whistle," Meng Zhen said. "It's a long whistle when it succeeds; a short whistle if something goes wrong..." Rong Xiaoshan bit his lip, with an expression like a child waiting for his father to buy toys. "My lord, don't be in a hurry." Meng Zhen patted him on the shoulder. "No matter what happens in the future, wait for everyone to gather before dispatching. The surname Yu... may play some tricks..." "He dares?" Rong Xiaoshan sneered. "I have two hundred people here, cut them all down!" "But that scythe is worth a hundred people..."

"I also have public thunder!" Rong Xiaoshan threw Mengzhen's hand away. "In Kyoto, who would dare to call our surname Rong..." Suddenly there was a whistle. There were seven or eight short, sharp whistles in a row. "What's going on?" Rong Xiaoshan simply pushed the window open in anxiety, and stretched his head to look in the direction where the carriage disappeared just now. "What happened?" He shrank back again, grabbing Mengzhen's lapel. "Call someone out to take a look!" Before Meng Zhen could answer, there was the sound of horse hooves on the road below. There was only one rider, turning out from the corner the car had just turned, and galloping towards the city gate.The figure of the rider gradually expanded. White clothes fluttered. Rong Xiaoshan's eyes widened. He had known this man since he was a child. It is indeed Zhang Shuai himself. Rong Xiaoshan ran towards the stairs, shouting: "Go! Go after him!" Meng Zhen chased after him: "My lord, don't! There may be an ambush outside!" Rong Xiaoshan had already arrived at the downstairs hall, and angrily picked up a knife: "Where is there any ambush? Our people have already seen inside and outside the city gate! How many horses are there?" A subordinate quickly replied: "There are only a dozen or so horses in the yard, and another twenty or so are hidden in the next few houses..." "Bring them out! Everyone on horseback! He's going to run!" More than a dozen people immediately rushed to the back yard to fetch horses, and everyone else rushed out of the house together. "Whoever kills him, five hundred taels of gold!" Rong Xiaoshan shouted excitedly, and then waved his hands to ask Meng Zhen and Mao Gonglei to follow him to the backyard. There are no stables in the backyard, just horses tied side by side under the shade of trees.In order to prevent the neighing of the horse from disturbing the outside, the mouths were all tied with cloth belts, and the subordinates were hurriedly taking off the cloth belts one by one. Rong Xiaoshan was very familiar with the horses, he picked out the strongest one among them at a glance, jumped up and sat on the saddle, his movements were very neat.He also indicated to Meng Zhen and Mao Gonglei which two horses to ride. ——If I had known this would happen, I would have brought my dark horse! The horses had been tied up for so long, once they were untied, they all neighed furiously. "Go! Go!" Rong Xiaoshan slapped the horse's buttocks with the back of his knife, and immediately galloped out through the back door alone.Meng Zhen and Mao Gonglei also quickly adjusted their reins and chased them out. The other subordinates who had gone out also appeared from the lane one by one on horseback, and gathered around Rong Xiaoshan in the middle of the road.But Zhang Shuai's horse had already crossed the house and reached Jiyuan's gate. "Chasing!" Rong Xiaoshan counted the horses, and there were already about thirty horses assembled, so he gave an order. "But the guards at the gate..." Rong Xiaoshan took out a black wooden token from the skirt, with a rope on it, hanging around his neck. "This is given to me by my godfather, they dare not stop it!" Thirty-eight riders galloped towards the city gate at the same time.Pedestrians and street vendors on the road had long been hiding on both sides because of Zhang Shuai's rush just now, and Rong Xiaoshan's horse team passed unimpeded. "Hey, what did that Di Bin do, he escaped!" Rong Xiaoshan said through his teeth, and he was the only one who heard it in the gallop. "Alright! Let me make this great achievement myself!" Zhang Shuai had already rode his horse out of the city gate.The guards obviously knew him and didn't intend to stop him.But seeing the team of nearly forty riders running at full speed, they all raised their Geji nervously. Rong Xiaoshan took the lead and raised the token in his hand high. "Gate order from Eunuch Lun! No one should stand in the way!" The guards hesitated.How can it be possible to identify the authenticity of the token at such a distance?But the aura of the visitor could not be faked.What's more, if it's true... Eunuch Lun is a person who can't be offended... "Back off! Back off!" After the team's decision was made, they immediately urged their subordinates to retreat from both sides of the city gate. Four more riders came to join them.The forty-two healthy horses rushed through the city gate without much stagnation.When passing by, the team saw that all the riders were wearing bright weapons, and opened their mouths in astonishment. Out of the city is the western suburbs of the capital, and at a glance there are plains.Rong Xiaoshan led the cavalry, riding skillfully and vigorously, holding up the silver sword in his right hand, quite like his father when he was young. Turning his head to the right, he finally found Zhang Shuai's tiny back riding alone, fleeing to the north. "Damn it, you should prepare bows and arrows!" Rong Xiaoshan mobilized the horse's head and led his men to chase north. "Slow down!" Meng Zhen shouted. "That's the direction of the Forbidden Garden! Today is Royal Hunting, if you make a mistake..." Rong Xiaoshan felt a shudder in his heart. ——But there is still a long distance from the edge of the Forbidden Garden... Zhang Shuai's horse is not fast... he can catch up... Rong Xiaoshan gnashed his teeth and swung his knife in the air, again urging his subordinates to catch up immediately. "Master..." Meng Zhen frowned and shouted again. "Don't stop me!" Rong Xiaoshan turned his head, gave Meng Zhen a hard look, and then looked at Zhang Shuai who was in the distance again, his legs hugged the horse's belly tightly, prompting it to speed up its pace again. ——Rong Xiaoshan knew exactly how big the Imperial Palace was, and he must not miss the golden opportunity to assassinate Zhang Shuai, at most he should chase him to the outskirts of the Forbidden Garden.Maybe if Zhang Shuai, who was in a panic, was driven in, he would use the knife of the imperial guards to kill people... One hundred and sixty-eight horse legs raised a sandstorm on the plain in the western suburbs, rolling towards the north at high speed. Zhang Shuai's back gradually grew bigger. Rong Xiaoshan's eyes were red with blood.He was already imagining how happy his father would be when he returned home with the head of the "Curse Army Master"... The further north we went, the denser the trees became, and the speed of both sides was forced to slow down. Rong Xiaoshan was evaluating the distance in his heart.Zhang Shuai in front got closer again, it seemed that his mount was exhausted. — Got it... almost got it... Out of the corner of Rong Xiaoshan's eyes, he suddenly caught a glimpse: among the trees in the front right, there seemed to be a reflection of metal. ——Is it an ambush?Zhang Shuai's trap? ... Rong Xiaoshan immediately slowed down his mount and let more than a dozen of his subordinates pass by, and there were people protecting him before and after the formation. The subordinates also slowed down in confusion, and Zhang Shuai in front pulled the distance away again... --what to do? ...Do you want to let him go?Or take advantage of this momentum and hit the opponent head-on? ...to decide quickly...quickly... The men and horses hiding in the woods showed up by themselves. The light reflected from the polished ceremonial armor, from the antique-style ebony spears and bronze sheathed swords. Each of the burly men, riding on the same well-selected horses, coupled with the gorgeous military equipment, seemed to be a heavenly soldier who came out of an ancient mythological picture.There is a thin mist in the forest, which adds a mysterious majesty to them. Rong Xiaoshan's clothes were immediately drenched in cold sweat. There are golden helmets in the shape of phoenix wings erected on both sides; finely crafted chain mail; the black fish skin sheath of the saber is embroidered with cloud-shaped silver silk patterns; a gold medal with ancient characters hangs on the waist... Rong Xiaoshan has lived at the foot of the emperor for twenty-five years since his birth, so of course he can recognize what kind of attire it is. The imperial guards, and the most elite imperial guards - the knights of the "Shenwu Battalion"! "Stop!" A very loud shout echoed in the forest.Those guards were all wearing battle helmets that half-covered their faces, and with the mist and echo, it was impossible to tell which one was shouting. "Put down the weapon quickly!" "Escort!" Another voice shouted after him. Rong Xiaoshan was so frightened that tears welled up in his eyes, and the whole cavalry stopped in place at a loss. "Withdraw!" Meng Zhen's cold voice woke up everyone's consciousness like a basin of ice water.He took the reins of Rong Xiaoshan's horse and took the lead to turn around and flee. "Run away!" Mao Gonglei waved the long knife in his hand, urging his subordinates to follow Meng Zhen and flee. "I'll stop them later!" Then he rode his horse forward. Forty-one riders fled along the way they came in embarrassment. "What should I do?" Rong Xiaoshan's mount was next to Meng Zhen, crying and asking: "Brother Zhen, what should we do now?" "Throw away all the weapons!" Meng Zhen shouted, and threw the knife aside first.The subordinates behind also followed suit. "My lord, don't worry." Meng Zhen's face remained calm. "Let's go back to Jiyuanmen." "Is it safe? Will the city..." "We're going back to the city. Don't worry, it's a big deal, you have the capacity to sacrifice wine, and Eunuch Lun will carry it." Rong Xiaoshan didn't answer, just nodded vigorously.He cursed secretly in his heart: Why haven't you seen the city gate yet?go back quickly!If only I could bring my beloved horse... ——As for the life and death of Mao Gonglei standing behind him at this moment, he never even thought about it.