Chapter 19 third quarter

Zhao Yan ran to General Cheqi's mansion in one breath, his lungs were about to explode, and the breath he exhaled was spicy.This kind of exercise is a bit too much for such a kid from the gentry who has been studying since he was a child. Cheqi General's Mansion was quiet, as if there was no one there.He stopped, held his knees and panted for a long time, then tentatively pushed the door, which was ajar, and opened with a "squeak".Zhao Yan stepped in and saw Concubine Dong standing in front of the screen wall holding a bamboo lantern with a tired and indifferent expression.

"Yanwei?" Concubine Dong showed a surprised expression, obviously she didn't expect him to be the first to step into the mansion. "Let's go!" Zhao Yan didn't care about the pleasantries, grabbed Concubine Dong's sleeve and pulled it out, "Your father rebelled against Cao, and now he was intercepted by foreign soldiers, Xu Duwei's people are coming to Dong's residence to arrest him! " As soon as he recognized Zhang Xiu's Xiliang cavalry, he immediately deduced the truth.After the soldiers from Xiliang entered the city, the situation in Xudu was reversed. Dong Cheng's defeat was decided, and Concubine Dong's situation would fall into an unprecedented danger.

According to his estimation, even if Xun Yu and Man Chong had made all the preparations, it would take some time to completely wipe out the remnants of the party.The chaotic situation during this period will be the only chance for the Dong family to escape.Thinking of this, Zhao Yan rushed to Dong's mansion impatiently. Concubine Dong threw away Zhao Yan's hand in some embarrassment, Zhao Yan thought she was still shy, and said anxiously: "What time is it, come out of the city with me!" Concubine Dong stopped in her tracks and held the lantern high.Zhao Yan noticed that her expression was a bit stern, and the knuckles holding the handle of the lantern were full of veins.

"Zhao Yanwei! If my father fails, the Han Dynasty will be finished. If you don't protect the emperor at this time, what are you doing here?" This was an unreasonable and arrogant question, but Zhao Yan was choked up.He is a courtier of a big man, and the capital is in chaos, so he should go to escort him as soon as possible.Even he himself didn't know why he came here to save the emperor's concubine by a strange coincidence. "I'm not going anywhere." Concubine Dong raised the lantern to shoulder height, her tone firm. "In the past, every time my father went out, I would hold this lantern and wait at the door, and today is no exception. My Dong family has been favored by the emperor for many generations, and I have never coveted my life. I am here to welcome my father back to the house. If the Cao thief comes here , I want to see the faces of these rebellious officials and thieves clearly under this lantern!"

Seeing Concubine Dong's decisive words, Zhao Yan was speechless for a moment.He didn't expect that the savage and willful eldest lady would have such integrity, and he was heartbroken and ashamed.Even though he was so resourceful, he couldn't help being at a loss at this moment, he didn't know whether he should praise him, or whether he should just kidnap him and let him go. "Young Master, but..." Concubine Dong suddenly gave a wry smile: "I've been dreaming these days, and the dreams are full of blood, and it really should be today. I don't regret my death, but it's a pity that the Han family has such a little flesh and blood." She touched her swollen belly , looking a little sad.The fetus is only seven months old, so it is impossible to entrust it to the orphan, otherwise it would be a good choice to entrust it to Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan slapped his head: "That's right! This is His Majesty's dragon species, the blood of the Han family! How can you invalidate righteousness just because of your nickname?" A smile flashed across Concubine Dong's eyes: "I've made up my mind, Yanwei, you don't need to say it—besides, since I was a child, when have I heard what you said?" She let out a burst of relaxed laughter, As if returning to his childhood, Zhao Yan couldn't smile at all. At some point, a thick cloud fell over the city, like a dark skip, and it seemed that there would be a heavy snowfall.The bitter cold wind flowed in front of the general's mansion out of thin air, not only bringing a few bloody smells, but also the sound of horseshoes in the distance.

"Yanwei, don't be sad. I'm already very happy that you came to me." Concubine Dong stretched out her hand, touched his face, carefully wiped off the blood on it, and slid her slightly swollen fingers across his face. Lips, throat, and finally the front. Just when Zhao Yan thought that something was going to happen, Concubine Dong grabbed the front of her chest, dragged him to her face, and said in a very low voice: "Now I want you to do something." "what?" "Since the fire in the bedroom, His Majesty seems to be a different person. I don't know what happened. I asked several times, but was blocked by that bitch Fushou. You must clarify this matter for me, otherwise my mother and son Don't die with peace!" Speaking of the last sentence, Concubine Dong's face became a little hideous, and her slender hands grabbed her chest desperately, as if it was someone's neck.

Zhao Yan saw that she spoke extremely solemnly, so he suppressed the horror in his heart, and agreed first.He was about to ask if there was any other evidence or clues, when the sound of horseshoes was approaching, Concubine Dong suddenly let go of her hand, and pushed him suddenly into the dark doorway of Dong Mansion. A knight appeared at the gate of the mansion.Concubine Dong recognized his face, it was the General Wei who personally escorted Zhang Yu out of Beijing.The strange thing was that he was covered in blood and there was a feathered arrow stuck in his back. It didn't look like he was here to arrest the family members of the traitors.Before she had time to say anything, Wang Fu had already rolled over from the horse and said loudly: "Your father has been defeated, so he sent me to rescue you out of the city!"

Concubine Dong was stunned, and was about to refuse.Wang Fu was not as good-tempered as Zhao Yan, he hugged her thick abdomen, his arms forcefully carried her onto the horse, and then he also stepped up.Concubine Dong was frightened by Wang Fu's roughness, which was almost like snatching a marriage, and she obediently stopped resisting.Since she had nowhere to step on her feet, she had to hold tightly to the belt of the king's clothes with both hands, for fear of falling. Wang Fu didn't care to look around, flicked the reins, and took Concubine Dong away quickly.Less than a moment after they left, a large group of tiger and leopard cavalry soldiers swarmed in.

Dong Cheng's family was separated during the war, and his wife died of illness. Currently, the only person of political value in Dong's mansion is Concubine Dong who is pregnant with the dragon seed.Wang Fu and Dong Cheng had made an agreement a long time ago, if something bad happened, he must pick up Concubine Dong and escape from Xudu. The leader of the tiger and leopard cavalry team quickly made a judgment, leaving only two people to guard the gate of Dong's mansion, and then ordered the whole army to continue the pursuit.It would not be too late to search Dong's mansion until Xu Duwei arrived.

This decision saved Zhao Yan's life. The two soldiers could only guard the gate, and Zhao Yan took the opportunity to sneak out of the dog hole on the side wall of the Dong Mansion. This dog hole was told to him by Concubine Dong before, but he didn't expect it to come in handy today.For him tonight, it was really a night of suffering and embarrassment.Not only was he tortured physically, but he was also repeatedly hit mentally.First there was the uprising by Dong Cheng and Wang Fu, then Xiliang soldiers entered the city abruptly, and finally Concubine Dong left him a heart-wrenching sentence. "The emperor seems to be a different person..." When Zhao Yan was walking in the dog hole, he repeatedly chewed this sentence in his heart, but he still couldn't get the point.He silently hoped that Wang Fu could rescue Concubine Dong smoothly, so that this sentence would not have to become a last word. Wang Fu and Concubine Dong galloped through the city of Xudu, both of them remained silent, only the heavy snorting of the horse could be heard. There were more and more pursuers, and they kept encircling from behind and from the sides. Several times, Wang Fu jumped out just before the encirclement net was formed.Only then did Concubine Dong discover that this route seemed strange, but she cleverly used the terrain to throw off most of the pursuers, preventing their numerical advantage from being brought into play.The sporadic pursuers couldn't get away under Wang Fu's sword at all. "Maybe I can really escape this way." Concubine Dong suddenly had a faint idea in her heart. She touched her belly, and the fetus inside kicked her mother lightly, as if she was a little happy.When hope appeared indistinctly, this light kick shook her desperate heart to die a little bit... Find a place to give birth to the child. Even if the father dies, there is still Zhao Yan who can help. There are so many princes in the world, there must be someone who can accept us.Concubine Dong's mind was pure, she was thinking on horseback in a daze. A long cry of a horse brought Concubine Dong back to the cold reality.She found that the mount was moving slower and slower, and the knight in front was swaying from side to side, and the range was getting bigger and bigger, as if he had lost his expression and couldn't hold the reins.Blood oozes from the wound on the knight's shoulder, and freezes into a circle of dark red icicles near the shaft of the arrow. "Are you okay?" Dong Fei asked. Wang Fu shook his head, feeling his lips a little bitter.He had almost touched the city wall several times, but was forced to turn in another direction by the pursuers.It seems that Man Chong and Deng Zhan have understood the whole plan, and ambushes have been arranged near several secret escape routes.They are the turtles in the urn now, and there is no way to escape. "This is the second time I escorted a woman out of the city, right?" Wang Fu smiled wryly, and couldn't help but think of the past.Unfortunately, this time it doesn't seem to work.His body became heavier and heavier, and his consciousness became more and more blurred. Despair weighed heavily on his heart like a huge rock on Mount Tai. They ran westward for a while, and turned around an archery building. Wang Fu suddenly saw many torches in the distance ahead, and could still hear human voices and metal clanging.Wang Fu hastily pulled the reins, sighed a long time, turned the horse's head silently, and started a new round of galloping. At first, Concubine Dong thought that he had an alternate route, but soon found that the horses were traveling in a very strange direction, not heading towards any city gate, but gradually going deep into the remote part of the city.Seeing Wang Fu manipulate the rein without hesitation, Concubine Dong felt that he seemed to have a very clear goal ahead. "Probably father has other arrangements." She couldn't help thinking. When the horse passed through another path, Wang Fu finally couldn't hold on anymore and fell off the horse with a "plop".Concubine Dong exclaimed, lost her balance, and fell to the ground.Fortunately, she landed on her back. Although she was hurt by the stones, her stomach was finally protected by both hands, and she was fine. Concubine Dong turned sideways, gritted her teeth and got up from the ground.She looked up and saw that Wang Fu's bun had fallen loose, and several strands of long hair were hanging on her shoulders, looking like a lunatic.He tried his best to half-stand up, but suddenly his right shoulder dropped, and he collapsed again, with a very painful expression on his face. Her heart sank, the series of escapes just now had exhausted Wang Fu's physical strength, and the arrow wound on his back made the situation worse, now it was at the end of its strength, and Duan Duan could no longer escort him.Concubine Dong shouted at the royal clothes: "Where is the reception?" If it's a plan prepared in advance, there must be arrangements nearby.A secret road, a carriage or a few hidden masters. It's a pity that Wang Fu shook his head and didn't answer.He struggled to climb under a dead tree, and lay down recliningly, his slack eyes wandering elsewhere.Concubine Dong stared at him suspiciously, feeling a little puzzled.The night was so dark that she couldn't tell where she was in Xu Capital City, but she could barely see a wooden house not far away, with a cut plum blossom slanted in front of the door. He worked so hard to come here?Concubine Dong had doubts in her heart.With a big belly, she didn't have much energy anymore, so she had to find a place beside the dead tree and sit down on the well fence, and let the cold well stone support her waist, so she felt better for a while. The pursuers approached like maggots attached to the bones. They were always led by the nose by the king's clothes, but they were never really shaken off.Wang Fu watched one soldier after another jump out of the snow, suddenly raised his neck, and let out a sharp and long cry with all his strength, startling a few crows on the nearby dead trees. The wooden house was also frightened, and a candle was lit.Soon the door opened, and a woman came out wearing a patterned sackcloth and holding a candlestick.Concubine Dong saw that Wang Fu's eyes suddenly became gentle, he stared at the woman intently, and slowly loosened his clenched fist.She recognized the woman's eyebrows and eyes. She was Tang Ji, the concubine of Liu Xie's elder brother Liu Bian. "It turns out that he has nowhere to escape, so he came here specially to see this woman for the last time." Strangely enough, Concubine Dong was not angry at this moment, but had a hint of envy instead.She lazily leaned against the well, without any strength in her body, her limbs were frozen stiff, and even her thinking became much duller. "If he is so kind to me, I don't know what it's like." Suddenly, a drop of cold snowflakes fell gracefully and slowly on the tip of her nose. Concubine Dong looked up at the night sky and saw countless snowflakes falling silently from the zenith, like a procession of honor guards going to funerals. Personally covered with a layer of plain white. Tang Ji saw the figure under the dead tree in the distance, she looked around in panic, and wanted to shrink back into the house.Wang Fu let out another long whistle, this time with a simple melody, three long and one short. The candlestick in Tang Ji's hand trembled slightly, she remembered the whistle.When fleeing in Chang'an that year, Wang Fu had made an agreement with her that three long whistles and one short whistle meant that he was surrounded by the enemy, and he asked her to escape alone.At that time, both people eventually escaped safely, so the code was not used.Unexpectedly, in this city of Xudu, the whistling sound finally resounded. She was half a step outside the door and half a step inside the door, not knowing how to advance or retreat for a moment.Snowflakes fell around the candlestick, some of them were melted by the weak candlelight, but more snowflakes continued to surge.Tang Ji hesitated for a moment, and raised her hand to cover the top of the candlestick to prevent the candlelight from being extinguished by snowflakes. She walked a few steps towards the royal clothes, and her clogs left a shallow line of footprints in the snow. Wang Fu looked at the woman he had been dreaming of, with a smile on his lips.Since there is no way out, it is also a relief to look at her before death. "Protect Madam Tang!" The pursuers from behind had already arrived and spread out into a fan shape and approached.Wang Fu seized the last moment, struggled to stand up from the ice and snow, pulled out a dagger from his boots, and stabbed at her. Tang Ji's reaction was very quick. She pinched the stabbing blade with one hand, and pressed Wang Fu's wrist with the other hand to exert force, instantly turning the dagger.This trick of dismantling was taught to her by Wang Fu in Chang'an, she was very familiar with it, and now she used it naturally.As soon as the dagger was turned, Wang Fu shook his arm and stabbed into his chest.Tang Ji said "ah", but it was too late to stop her. Wang Fu exhausted his last strength and muttered, "Yingzi, take care..." "I'm sorry." Tang Ji whispered. This answer was beyond Wang Fu's expectation. He widened his eyes in surprise, trying to distinguish the meaning of Tang Ji's words.But he only moved his lips a few times, but he didn't make another sound after all. He fell forward and just put the handle of the dagger into Tang Ji's hand.From the direction of the pursuer, it seems that Wang Fu tried to attack Tang Ji, but was killed by the latter. "Are you okay?" The team officer in charge of the pursuit asked pantingly, a little out of breath.Tang Ji let go of the dagger blankly and nodded. "Today there are rebels in Xudu city, disturbing Madam, she deserves to die." The team officer kicked Wang Fu's body resentfully.Tang Ji frowned slightly, squatted down, and held up the candlestick to look at Wang Fu's face. The deceased seemed to still retain the surprise of the moment before he died. "There's another woman here!" a soldier suddenly shouted. The team officer and Tang Ji turned their heads at the same time, and saw Concubine Dong leaning against the well, her eyes calmly looking at the cloudy sky, as if she was looking for something.The team officer ordered the soldiers to get out of the way, and respectfully knelt on the ground with one leg: "The rebellion has been decided, please return home as soon as possible." Concubine Dong didn't answer.Tang Ji shrugged her nose, and suddenly smelled a strange smell.She suddenly thought of something, went to see Concubine Dong again, and was stunned.Near the ground where Concubine Dong was sitting, a thin layer of snow had been melted away by the dark red blood.A steady stream of fresh blood was rushing out from her lower body, steaming in the snow, as if the soul was being taken away from the body and drifting away. "Get her in!" Tang Ji shouted.The soldiers were a little panicked, they didn't care about the auspiciousness, they hurriedly lifted Concubine Dong and carried her into the house.After entering the room, Tang Ji asked them to lay Concubine Dong on the bed, with pillows on her buttocks to slow down the bleeding, and then shouted at the team officer: "Hurry up, let your people find Wen Po and Physician!" "This won't work." The team officer shook his head and blocked the door with his body. Tang Ji could hardly believe her ears: "What are you talking about?! This is a concubine who is pregnant with dragon seeds!" "She is also the daughter of the traitor Dong Cheng." The team officer replied. When he said this, a trace of unbearable and helpless appeared on his young face. "I have an order, please understand Madam." He gestured in shame. Tang Ji reacted quickly.Concubine Dong is not only the concubine of the emperor, but also the daughter of a traitor. Such a difficult and contradictory character, she can't be killed, and she can't be kept.Those big figures above must have given orders to the pursuers, hoping that Concubine Dong can avoid trouble in an unexpected and natural way. Right now is obviously an ideal situation. Tang Ji said coldly: "So you plan to watch her die?" The team officer didn't answer, he took off his iron helmet silently, put it under his armpit, stood straight on the spot with his chest straight, his face flushed, but There is no intention of backing down. "Tell me your name. A person who sits by and watches the death of the imperial concubine without moving, must be remembered." Tang Ji said. "Rongcheng, Sun Li." The team officer hesitated for a moment, and announced his hometown and name loudly. Tang Ji ignored him and turned to see Concubine Dong's situation.The condition of the pregnant woman was very bad, the bleeding became more and more serious, and the entire bed had been stained into a shocking dark red.Concubine Dong's face turned pale rapidly due to excessive blood loss, and she almost fell into a coma. She was supposed to have a good life, enjoy all the glory and wealth, and enjoy her husband's favor, and maybe she could be a generation of empress dowagers.But now she can only lie on the bed, waiting for death alone and painfully.She was surrounded by courtiers who swore allegiance to the Han Dynasty, but no one offered a helping hand, and she and her children were allowed to die like this. Concubine Dong's limbs twitched suddenly, and her right hand stretched out into the air, as if trying to grab something.Her lips parted slightly, as if she had a last word to say, Tang Ji hurriedly leaned over to listen, only to find that the extremely weak voice was actually a ballad: "Grass crickets, wearing yellow belts, the sun rises in the east, and the nobles come from the west... come from the west..." The sound gradually weakened until it was inaudible.Tang Ji stood up, and calmly said to Sun Li, "Your task is completed, get out of here." Sun Li stepped forward to check Concubine Dong's breath, bowed deeply, put the iron helmet back on his head, and left with his subordinates without looking back. Tang Ji heard their footsteps pause outside the house for a moment, and then there was a rustling sound.She suddenly realized that they were dragging Wang Fu's body, and couldn't help but burst into tears.