Chapter 176 Chapter Four Survival

Xiang Shaolong sent Li Yuan outside the house, more than 30 guards waited until their necks grew, Li Yuan got on the saddle and asked in a low voice: "Is Yan Ran here?" Xiang Shaolong nodded slightly. After pondering for a while, Li Yuan smiled wryly, "I really envy Brother Xiang." Xiang Shaolong said: "Want to see her?" Li Yuan first showed a look of surprise, then shook his head and said: "We will meet each other if we don't see each other, brother Xiang, please say hello to her for me, and tell her that Ji Yanran is the most respected woman in my heart in Li Yuan."

He looked up to the sky with a smile, got on his horse, and led his followers out of the gate like a whirlwind. Xiang Shaolong sighed with emotion, shook his head, and went back to the house. Just as he was about to go back to see Ji Yanran and report the matter to her, Madam Zhuang stopped him on the way and dragged him to an unoccupied room, and said in a low voice: " What did Li Yuan tell you?" Xiang Shaolong thought of her distraught and infatuated attitude towards Li Yuan just now, so he felt angry, and said coldly: "It's all about using knives and guns, nothing special."

Mrs. Zhuang leaned over to examine his eyes carefully, and when she saw that he was unnatural, she smiled like a flower and said softly: "Shaolong is a little jealous, I am happy." Xiang Shaolong simply let out his temper and said: "It's not jealousy, it's because a man likes to hear a woman say in front of his face that he is willing to work for another man. This is a matter of respect or disrespect. Let go How are your hands?" Mrs. Zhuang held him tighter, leaned close to his ear and exhaled like a blue voice: "If the person I want to talk to is Xiang Shaolong instead of Li Yuan, then I should be a concubine instead of a maidservant. Shaolong understands Is that different?"

Xiang Shaolong sneered, "I'm such an easy-to-deceive person, Madam, dare you say that you don't have feelings for Li Yuan?" Speaking of this, my heart skipped a beat, and I knew that I really had a crush on Mrs. Zhuang.He can be said to be very gracious towards women, and he rarely scolds or hurts women. Even for the deliberate murders of Shan Meimei and Gui Yan, he never had the idea of ​​seeking revenge from them.The woman who scolded him the most was Zhao Ya, but in the end he forgave her and loved her like before.But why did he lose his temper with Mrs. Zhuang so much?

Because Xiang Shaolong had been hit hard before, he didn't want to be like the men of this era who treat women as much as possible and accept concubines as many as possible.But this is just wishful thinking, on the contrary, women keep throwing hugs at him, willingly joining his group of wives and concubines. Non-vegetation, ruthless Practice makes perfect.In addition, he is easy to soften his heart towards women, so he has always been cautious and does not want to get involved in the affairs of men and women. So far, the only one who really can't help him today is Qin Qing, who is very restrained to the others.

But Mrs. Zhuang's situation is very special. No matter whether she succeeds in restoring the country or not, she will never become his concubine.It's a matter of identity.Mrs. Zhuang and her son have become orthodoxy and symbols recognized by everyone in Dian. Once Mrs. Zhuang marries someone else, this symbol will be completely destroyed. She can have a physical relationship with a man, which is very common in this day and age.Therefore, even if Xiang Shaolong and Mrs. Zhuang have a relationship between men and women, it is destined to be short-lived.When Zhuang Baoyi ascended the throne and Xiang Shaolong left Yunnan, the relationship between men and women was about to come to an end.

It is precisely because there is no such psychological barrier, and because Xiang Shaolong has great sympathy for the helpless mother and child, so he unconsciously accepts Mrs. Zhuang gradually. This may be called love for a long time.It's just that he didn't even know what it was until he lost his temper and suddenly realized what it was. Although Mrs. Zhuang was scolded, she didn't have the slightest reaction to being blamed. Anyway, she said: "You are right, Li Yuan is indeed a man who fascinates me, and regardless of his real intentions, on the surface he is still Support my dealer outright. If I hadn’t met you, I would definitely repay you with my body. But I won’t do this now, because I’m afraid you will look down on him. You are satisfied with confessing your feelings like this.”

Xiang Shaolong sighed and said, "But now that you have stirred up Li Yuan's heart, I'm afraid the matter cannot be controlled by you?" Mrs. Zhuang said: "Don't worry, I've already had a lot of experience in dealing with men." Then she said with a foxy smile: "I did it on purpose just now to see how a hard-hearted person like you would react, now I finally know, alas! Shaolong, can I let my concubine sleep with me tonight?" Thinking of Ji Yanran and Zhao Zhi, Xiang Shaolong hardened his heart: "Don't forget our earlier agreement, big things matter, and the relationship between men and women has to be put aside for now."

Mrs. Zhuang was so moved that her eyes were red, she lowered her head and said: "This is the first time I have met a man who helped me not because of my looks." When she said that, she leaned even tighter on him. It was only then that Xiang Shaolong found out his identity and told her about his alliance with Li Yuan. Mrs. Zhuang was dumbfounded when she heard this, and she was overjoyed and forced Xiang Shaolong to spend some time with her before letting him go. Xiang Shaolong returned to his residence, and repeated the matter to Ji Zhao and his daughters. The two daughters were also dumbfounded, they did not expect such an unexpected development.

Ji Yanran said happily: "Although Li Yuan is a selfish, narrow-minded and unscrupulous person, he is a man of insight. Under such circumstances, it is the smartest way to form an alliance with you, let alone with you as a friend , Maybe it can influence Qin State not to take Chu State as the first target of conquest." Xiang Shaolong smiled wryly and said: "It's hard for me to speak out on this matter. If you don't beat people, they will come to beat you. Don't say that friends can become enemies, even father and son brothers can turn against each other. A talented woman of Ji is proficient in history. It should be an experience.”

Zhao Zhi nodded and said: "My lord is right, not to mention that now Xiang Lang has friends everywhere, and he doesn't know which country to help if he wants to help." Xiang Shaolong said frankly: "I am a person who only loves peace and does not like war. In the future, after the crown prince ascends the throne, we will go to other places and find a beautiful field or a valley for the rest of our lives. Isn't that very satisfying?" The two girls were so moved that they threw themselves into his arms. At this time, Jing Shan came to report that Qu Shiming, the inner city official, asked to see him. Xiang Shaolong was surprised, asked about Ji Yanran, and found out that the inner city officials and others were like the commanders of the imperial guards, and hurried out of the front hall suspiciously to meet guests. ◇◇◇◇◇◇ Qu Shi will be in his thirties next year, with a steady demeanor and a kind face. He is tall and straight, with a handsome face, which gives people a good impression.But this is only a superficial illusion, because Xiang Shaolong always feels that there is something completely opposite to this appearance in his eyes, which makes him realize that Qu Shiming is the kind of person who hides a knife in his smile. After greetings. Qu Shiming said: "The queen mother ordered me to come and invite General Wan to enter the palace. Can General Wan leave immediately?" Xiang Shaolong thought to himself that now it is broad daylight, and the road to the palace is a thoroughfare, he should not be afraid of him playing tricks, and if there is an incident, he can escape on the bustling road, so he nodded and agreed, and rode with him to the palace. Along the way, Qu Shiming talked and laughed at the scenery and buildings along the way, which gave him a lot of information. At least he knew that the magnificent building next to the palace was the Chunshen Palace, and Li Yuan’s Zuoxiang Palace was diagonally opposite the Chunshen Palace. . Li Yuan had residences both inside and outside the palace, and his relationship with Li Yanyan was naturally closer than that of other members of the Li clan or Mr. Chunshen.It's no wonder that even though Chun Shenjun was jealous, so far he still can't do anything to him.But as Li Ling entered Shouchun, Tian Dan and Chunshenjun openly colluded, and this balance was finally broken. After entering the palace, everyone dismounted. Qu Shiming said in a low voice: "The Empress Dowager wants to meet General Wan in the Yangxin Bieyuan of her East Palace. That is the place where she plays the piano to entertain herself. When she is in a good mood, she might play a song for the husband." Xiang Shaolong secretly wondered if Li Yanyan really liked him, but after thinking about it, it was unlikely, how could a woman who hates men change in just two days.But it's useless to think too much, so I had to go with Qu Shiming. Eight guards led the way in front, and the other sixteen followed behind. The protection for him was a bit too much, but it could be seen that Li Yanyan protected him. These twenty-four imperial guards are obviously particularly elite, all of them are sturdy, with thick necks and thick shoulders, and they are all powerful men. If all the Chu soldiers are of this level, even the Qin people will not be their opponents. At this time, surrounded by Xiang Shaolong and Qu Shiming, they walked through a path paved with gravel in the East Garden, surrounded by luxuriant flowers and trees, small pavilions, small bridges, and fish ponds with flowing water, embellishing the garden with vitality. There is a row of houses outside the grass trees on the left, but no one is inside.There was no one around. Qu Shiming pointed to the house and said, "General Wan, please take a look." Xiang Shaolong followed his guidance and wondered, "What are you looking at?" At this moment, I suddenly felt that the right waist was hit hard by a sharp and hard object, and there was a ding sound. Xiang Shaolong immediately knew what was going on.Qu Shiming plotted against him with a dagger, but it stabbed his pouch full of flying needles hidden in his waist.Without even thinking about it, he slammed an elbow on Qu Shiming's side. Qu Shiming slammed the dagger and fell to the ground. Amid the sound of rib fractures, Qu Shiming fell to the side miserably. He still did not forget to shout: "Do it!" It was Xiang Shaolong who made the first move, he changed the scabbard to hide the blood wave and the sword came out of the scabbard, the two closest to the front were immediately drawn in the neck and fell to the ground spattered with blood. Xiang Shaolong knew that it was not appropriate to force the enemy, so he threw himself sideways into a pile of bushes, and when he rolled out from the other side, the enemy's attack was fully launched.There are two people on the left and right, who are as fierce as mad tigers. Xiang Shaolong knew that he must not back down, so he summoned up his unrivaled fighting spirit, and rushed forward. He didn't know how many flowers were trampled, but he avoided the danger of being surrounded, so he turned around suddenly, and a wave of blood and lightning struck out. These imperial guards are one in a thousand masters, and the one who was the first to block his sharp blow with a sword, but he couldn't avoid Xiang Shaolong's kick from below, making a slap in the face , howled and fell to the ground. The two people rushing from behind couldn't hold back their momentum, they tripped and almost fell to the ground.Xiang Shaolong's sword light soared and swirled around, both of them dropped their swords and fell down, dead on the spot. At this time, more people swarmed in from the three fronts, and they all came out from among the bushes, flowers and trees.But no one yelled, they just attacked without saying a word. Xiang Shaolong's heart skipped a beat, he yelled loudly, and ran towards the house on the left.When rushing to a small bridge, there was a sound of wind from behind, Xiang Shaolong knew something was wrong, he rolled down on the bridge, and a long sword pierced through the air above. Xiang Shaolong jumped up on the bridge, and used a move of "replacing defense with attack", imagining waves of heavy swords, and quickly counterattacked the two people rushing up. With the sound of "choke!", only half of the long sword of the man on the left was left. It's a pity that Xiang Shaolong didn't have the chance to kill him, and when he took advantage of the situation to force another person back, he saw seven or eight enemy people crossing the creek at the bottom of the Chuiliu bridge, trying to rush to the other side of the bridge to intercept him. Xiang Shaolong let go of the enemy in front of him, jumped onto the railing of the bridge, somersaulted in the air, and landed on a piece of grass.The two enemies immediately rushed over aggressively. Xiang Shaolong groaned in his heart, these people were all tyrannical in martial arts, they outnumbered others, enough to kill him.If he was blocked from fighting hard, he would be unlucky, so he gritted his teeth and rolled over from the ground. Although the two enemies were brave, they had never seen this kind of fighting style before. When they panicked, one of them was already twisted by Xiang Shaolong's legs, and fell to the ground, while the other was pierced by blood waves . The four directions are full of figures and sword lights. Xiang Shaolong let go of the fallen man, rolled towards a big tree next to him, hit the tree and bounced up, three long swords slashed at him from different angles. Xiang Shaolong knew that this was a critical juncture, if he couldn't break through the siege, he would die here today, shouted wildly, and used the "combined offensive and defensive capital" at the bottom of the box, and all three swords chopped at the sword light he drew On the ground, he was forced to retreat by his seemingly infinite sword power. Out of the corner of his eyes, other people are chasing after him like crazy, and it has become a deadlock. Xiang Shaolong looked up and saw a stick branch protruding from above, and the branches and leaves were even more dense above it, he was overjoyed, before the enemy attacked, he put his sword back into its sheath, jumped off the ground, grasped it with both hands On the horizontal branch of Ruoer's arm. Seeing this, the enemy jumped up and attacked with a sword.Xiang Shaolong flew out with both feet left and right, and swept the two swords, and the two swords swung away immediately.The two feet were kicked out in a row again, and the two of them faced the door, blood burst out, and they staggered and fell. Borrowing the strength of my waist, when I turned up the horizontal butt, the bottom was full of enemies. Three swords were thrown at him.Xiang Shaolong stuck to the tree, avoiding the long sword, and quickly climbed up.The enemy was in a mess and watched helplessly from below. At this time, he could only regret that he didn't bring the crossbow arrows with him. After reaching the top of the tree, it is eight or nine feet away from the ground. Xiang Shaolong was elated, he broke his throat and yelled like a sentinel on a sentry tower: "Rebellion! Rebellion!" Four enemies began to climb up. Instead of being surprised, Xiang Shaolong was overjoyed, pulled out the bloody wave, and went to meet him.With a condescending attitude, the melon and vegetable cutter chopped the four of them off the tree, and it seemed that they would not survive. At this time, Qu Shiming worked hard to get under the tree according to the fractured part of his side, but he was at a loss as to what to do, he shouted: "Cut the tree!" Xiang Shaolong laughed loudly and said, "Thank you for your hard work!" It would take less than half an hour to cut down this big tree that cannot be hugged by a long sword. At this moment, countless imperial guards poured into the garden from all directions. Qu Shiming's face changed drastically, and he shouted, "Let's go!" But it was a step too late, the guards surrounded the people and trees, and when they saw that it was the boss Qu Shiming, they all froze. "The Queen Mother is here!" All the guards hurriedly knelt on the ground.It was inconvenient for Xiang Shaolong to salute at the top of the tree, so he avoided it.Finally survived the danger of being assassinated once, but it was luck.