Pei Gonggui

Jiang Zhan's pain lasted until night.After being pointed out several times by the imperial physician, he finally twitched and vomited out a mouthful of dirty blood after taking another soup that didn't help, and passed out abruptly.

All the energy around him was drawn away. In the dream, there were white-faced ghosts and black figures colliding freely and colliding, blowing him forward like a strong wind, and sending him across a swift and cold dark river to a door. In front of the stone gate with copper nails as high as a hundred feet.

There are spells all over the stone gate, and fierce beasts stand on the stone seats on both sides. When they see him, they all open their fangs and sharp mouths, and roar wildly, causing the stone gate to open in response, spewing out a gust of wind and sucking him inward——

Jiang Zhan woke up from the dream with one foot in the air, and his hoarse voice pierced through the bedding wet with cold sweat, waking up Hu Li who was accompanying him on the couch.

Hu Li quickly wiped his face and straightened up to help him: "Is the emperor still hurting?"

Jiang Zhan was about to speak to the imperial physician, when he moved, he found that half of the pain in his body was gone.

He froze for a moment, raised his hands and pinched his whole body around, only to feel that his whole body was sore and weak, and he really didn't feel any pain at all.

"I... don't hurt anymore?" He lowered his head, his blue eyes looked at his pale hands in disbelief, his eyebrows trembled, and he was crying and laughing for the rest of his life, "Hurry up, send the imperial doctor here !"

The palace gates of the Zhongqing Palace were opened layer by layer, and the imperial doctor Wang rushed in with the medicine box on his back, and asked Jiang Zhan's pulse with trembling hands. After taking a deep breath, he wiped his sweat and replied: "The emperor's dragon body is fine, it's really a blessing for all the people! I will immediately prescribe some medicine for the emperor, and within a few days——"

"What about the poison?" Jiang Zhan interrupted him by supporting the edge of the bed, "Is the poison in my body cured, or is it suspended?"

"This..." The leading doctor Wang kowtowed to the ground, his back trembling.Under the heavy pressure at this time, he had no choice but to express his conjecture: "Reporting to the emperor, when I checked the emperor's tongue yesterday, I saw yellow moss with a fragrance. At that time, it was only the vegetation mixed with poison, but I saw it today. Your majesty is completely free of illness... This minister can't help but think carefully, the yellow moss is actually mandala flower mud."

"Mandala?" Jiang Zhan frowned, "What's the use of this thing?"

Doctor Wang said: "The datura flower was introduced from the South China Sea, and it has always had the effect of relieving pain and causing people to faint. The emperor once said that the antidote given by Pei Jun had yellow lines on the surface and implied a delicate fragrance, so I guessed... ...It is actually made of mandala flower mud, but the antidote mixed with this flower mud is still the previous poison. The emperor suffered from seizures after taking the poison. After taking Pei Jun's 'antidote', it is true He will lose the pain sensation because of the mandala on the 'antidote', but after several hours, the effect of the mandala will pass, but the emperor will feel severe pain again due to the poison in the pill, and at this time he will take it again' The antidote' not only paralyzes the pain sensation again, but also takes another poison... the cycle goes on and on, this is the principle of the 'relapse' of the poison every half a day."

Jiang Zhan's face turned greener the more he heard it, and at the end, his teeth trembled with anger: "You mean... If I don't take Pei Jun's 'antidote' and are willing to suffer, then the poison will naturally dissipate after a long time ——As long as I am safe and sound like today; but if I am eager to find a solution and be forced to survive, then I will fall into Pei Jun's tricks... asking for trouble?"

The imperial physicians didn't dare speak up at all.In Jiang Zhan's eyes, this move is undoubtedly everyone acquiescing to his stupidity, which finally called him

He was so angry that he smashed the herbal tea on the square table beside the couch, and hoarse with resentment: "Pei Jun, a traitor! How dare you mock my life like this! Announce Zhang Ling to enter the palace, and I will issue an order from all over the world to hunt down Pei Jun. Cut him into pieces!"

In the silence, only Hu Li dared to say: "Emperor... Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang has not left the palace all night. It is because of... because of..."

Seeing him hesitating, Jiang Zhan was displeased: "Why, tell me!"

Hu Lifu said authentically: "My Majesty, there was an attack by the rebel army during the city defense investigation yesterday, so Mr. Zhang stayed in the palace to assist the overall situation. Now the leader of the rebel army has been found out."

Jiang Zhan asked: "Who is the leader?"

Hu Li swallowed, and said in a low voice, "Return to the emperor, it's Cai Yan."

"What..." Jiang Zhan's eyes widened, he was so surprised that he couldn't say a word, and Hu Li continued: "Your Majesty, since the rebels were discovered by the city defense yesterday, in just one night, the west, south, east and Sijing Passes of the city were also closed. The traces of the rebels were discovered one after another, and they fought fiercely. According to the letter sent this morning, what Cai Yan is leading this time is the powerful men and horses from all over the northern border and the three characters of Zheng, Xi, and Bei raised by the Cai family. The battalion of personal guards, at least [-] to [-] people, is surrounded by soldiers. The imperial army was caught off guard, and they are now at a disadvantage. Mr. Zhang is discussing with the cabinet how to deal with it!"

When Jiang Zhan heard that the imperial army was defeated, his heart suddenly turned cold. After a few sharp turns in his mind, he slapped the bed suddenly and said, "Cai Yan, a reckless man, only listens to one person in his life, and that is his father. Hurry up!" Hu Li, go and tell Zhang Ling, let the imperial army take Cai Yan to the city gate to shout, tell Cai Yan, if he does not retreat, I will kill his father and the entire Cai family, and let him see what it means to wash the city wall! "

It was just dawn, and the gate of Cai's mansion in Beifang, the capital city, was knocked by people.Half an hour later, Cai Yan's old body appeared on the wall of the north gate, his whole body was shackled with hemp rope, he was dressed in white clothes, and his head was tied with white strips. His dry and gray hair trembled in the morning wind. His eyes were deeply embedded in the creases like knives, and he didn't take a second look at the officials and courtiers around him.

This old man who is only seventy years old but already has a rare appearance. He used to be the head of the court and sat firmly in the first chair of the cabinet. Now he has lost all his identity and dignity. He is like a prisoner, supporting him in his dying years. Standing tall on the top of the city wall, with his eyes half-closed as before, he stared at the dense forest in the outskirts of Beijing - where the army of his eldest son Cai Yan, whom he was once proud of, was stationed.

At this moment, a cavalry was carrying the edict of the imperial court persuading him to surrender, and rushed out of the city gate below Cai Yan, and hurried towards the camp where gunpowder smoke was rising from the dense forest.

Cai Yan looked at the unextinguished beacon in the distance, pursed the corners of his lips, shook his head, and murmured in a barely audible voice: "God's will... destiny..."

Within half an hour, the men and horses who persuaded them to surrender turned back from the dense forest, but the horses ran halfway, but the messenger immediately fell from the horse's back, and blood flowed from his body, mouth and nose, instantly staining the ground under him. .

——Cai Yan killed the envoy who persuaded him to surrender!This is already a clear signal to the imperial court.

When all the officers and soldiers of the city defense fell into astonishment and bewilderment, Cai Yan was escorted down the tower again by the imperial guards.Standing on the stone steps, he took a last look back at the boundless fertile land and mountains under the bright sun, sky and clouds, his eyes were full of desolation, and he finally sighed.

A big battle is inevitable.

Once Xin'er, who persuaded the envoy to be killed, came to the palace, Jiang Zhan fell into panic.

As a weak emperor raised in a deep palace, he has never faced real swords and guns and thousands of troops so close in his life. The only thing he can do at this time is dragging his newly recovered sick body, When he came to the cabinet, he poured out all his anxieties to a roomful of cabinet ministers who were in disarray, and even proposed a feasible solution to Zhang Ling:

"Beijing has been short of supplies all year round, and it may not be enough to support the troops. The fierce generals in the north are hard to deal with. Instead of fighting to the death with Cai Wei, the court might as well give him another step down."

Zhang Ling looked sideways at him: "What does the emperor mean by this?"

Jiang Zhan drank the decoction and said with difficulty: "The reason why Cai Yan rebelled was because of Pei Jun and King Jin's provocation and persecution. Since these two people separated the Cai family from the court, the crime should also be committed by the two of them." It should not be replaced by the imperial court. I think that the most urgent task now is to get the Imperial City Secretary to find Pei Jun, then take down Jiang Yue, and hand over these two to Cai Yan. Let Cai Yan relieve his grievances and send troops without reason, and at that time, the reinforcements from the court will arrive, and we will not be afraid that we will not be able to annihilate the Cai family."

Zhang Ling didn't agree with Jiang Zhan, thinking it was a short-sighted move, but before he could speak, Jiang Zhan had announced that he had come to the imperial city to inquire about Pei Jun's movements.

Imperial City Secretary Wei said: "Report to the Emperor, after investigation, all of Pei's relatives and friends in Beijing have fled, and even Cao Luan's family, who was imprisoned for a crime, have long since disappeared. , so the department also went to check the Mei Mansion, but heard that the head of the family, Mei Shikai, had submitted a report, saying that his six sons had been robbed by thieves."

"There must be something wrong with Meiliu!" Jiang Zhan was furious, "This person is seeking a business route, and he must have helped Pei Jun escape from the capital!"

Huangcheng Siwei said: "But there were dozens of Mei's vehicles and boats that left Beijing yesterday, and even the government-operated boats that went to the outskirts of Beijing to store grain have been inspected, and there is nothing unusual about any of them. It is true that Pei Jun cannot be found now. How did the party get out of Beijing..."

Jiang Zhan scolded the Imperial City Secretary for being incompetent, and ordered them to search for Pei Jun's whereabouts more quickly, but the words of the official's words, heard in Zhang Ling's ears, caused Zhang Ling to frown slightly.

During the short break, Zhang Ling caught up with Si Wei who had resigned, and Su Rong whispered a few words, asking Si Wei to send troops to find the whereabouts of the Mei family's official ship.When he walked out of Hengyuan Pavilion to check the recently delivered report, he raised his head and saw Zhang San, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment who had just completed the city defense inspection, was accompanied by Zhang He and entered the palace to report the matter. He, Russia has come to the front.

Zhang San was about to report the matter to his father with cupped fists, but before he could speak, Zhang Ling raised his hand and slapped Zhang San's face with a "slap".

This ear-piercing sound interrupted Zhang San's unspoken words in his throat, and there was no need to tell his unspoken lies.Amidst Zhang He's stunned questioning, Zhang Ling and Zhang San and his father and son looked at each other silently. After a while, Zhang Ling turned around with his arms folded and disappeared into the corner of the palace.Zhang San's eyes hurt, and he lowered his head.

Two days later, Pei Jun and his party took a boat to Qinglindu, the first ferry south of the Jingnan Canal.

Here, the Shangjiang River is wide open, the waterway is turbulent, and the water power is enough to drive a large ship to sail. However, if you go further south, the waterway branches and the number of reefs increases.Therefore, Pei Jun and Mr. Zhao agreed to replace one large ship with three smaller ones, and sailed in groups to Ningcheng.

Ningcheng is already in the southeast, and there are still two or three days to go.Pei Jun expected that Jiang Yue's troops would definitely arrive before him, so he followed the arrangement with Yan Yuliang and Fang Mingjue during the kidnapping of Jiang Zhan, and quickly found the prepared ships and manpower, and the group of people once again changed into the big families of the Northland who went south to find relatives The family, divided into one boat of strong men, two boats of women and children, and three boats of supplies, lifted anchor in the night and started sailing again.

According to the plan, they will enter the Xiaoqin River after Qinglindu, drift south along the road, and with the wind and the water, they will reach Ningcheng, an important military town.But when they had just changed into the boat and hadn't walked a few miles, they saw a large net suddenly appeared in the front and back waters, dozens of black shadows shot up into the sky, drew an arc in the night sky, and hit the boat straight!

"No, there's a trap!" Pei Jun roared, "Hurry up and hide!"

Everyone on the boat fled and hid in a panic, but the black shadows that fell were sharp-edged iron knives, and took the lives of a dozen guards on the deck in just one breath.

Pei Jun felt pain in his eyes, and ran out from under the mast in a panic, grabbed the rudder and shook it to the right, the boat changed direction immediately, swayed and hit the rocks on the shore.

Pei Jun shouted: "Get off the boat! Quick! Get your weapons!"

Fang Mingjue and Yan Yuliang, who were on the first boat with him, immediately jumped off the boat with a group of guards, wading to the shore.

Before Pei Jun took the silver gun handed by the guard, he heard a child screaming in the water, and his heart twisted.I saw that the mechanism in the river was launched again, a large net had been lifted from the water, and it was covered on the second boat in an instant——

And Jiang Xuan, Pei Yan and Mei Linyu were on this ship.