Chapter Twenty-Four All Parties

  Zhu Ciyan's words were both serious and humorous, yet also interspersed with quotes from Confucius and Buddhist scriptures. Even Tang Ruowang, who was well-versed in Han learning, had to think for a moment before he fully understood the meaning.

  Just delayed for a moment, Wang Yuan had already twisted the evil slave's hands like a hemp rope.

  This fellow's face was originally fierce, and now his true nature was fully revealed. His two arms were as powerful as iron pincers. The other servants in the Zhou household saw him and didn't dare to come forward. They could only watch as the slave who had been beaten was twisted until both of his arms were broken, and he lay on the ground in agony.

  Wang Yuan finally felt relieved and looked up at the dozen or so bald men, sneering: "Is anyone else coming?"

  As soon as he finished speaking, all the onlookers' hearts were broken, and who would still dare to come forward?

  There were many people around who had been watching the commotion, but when they saw Wang Yuan's ferocious appearance, no one dared to come over. The crowd had long since fallen silent and retreated far away.

  Although this rascal is a champion of justice, once he gets aroused, who can control him?

  Only a few old men came forward, shaking and trembling, and said to Wang Yuan: "This brave man is quick to leave, don't torture him anymore. The master of the village is probably coming, and there will be many soldiers in a while, you must be careful not to suffer."

  Li Gong was a meticulous person, and upon hearing the polite words of the commoners, he hastily added a few sentences, saying to Zhu Ciyan in a low voice: "This foreign monk is easy to get along with... his residence is just ahead, not far from here. Tomorrow, when you have time, come and meet him again. He has nothing to do all day but talk to people... very affable."

  Zhu Ciwen smiled as he listened, today's outing has been quite an experience, and it's about time to wrap things up.

  He bowed to Tang Ruowang, but immediately suppressed the smile on his face and said: "Mr. Tang, just now I still had doubts in my heart, there was one thing that I couldn't decide, it was your words that suddenly enlightened me... thank you!"

  Having said that, he bowed again and then turned around and left.

  Behind him were Ren Shang and Wang Xiao, two military officers who found it quite strange. They looked at Tang Ruowang and thought to themselves: "This foreign monk hasn't done anything extraordinary, he's just helping out with some trivial matters. Why is the young master treating him so seriously? He even bowed to him, this guy is really lucky... hope he doesn't lose his good fortune after receiving such a bow..."

  ……

  ……

  Zhu Ciwen took people away, but Tang Ruowang's eyes showed a deep thought. The young man in front of him, although wearing short brown clothes and having a dirty face, did not have the slightest sloppy air. On the contrary, with Tang Ruowang's experience, he had a unique temperament that only Chinese nobles had.

  He looked in the direction where Zhu Ciwen was leaving, and unknowingly drew a cross.

  "Huh, there are several girls in this car?"

  Zhu Ciwen took several guards and left, the entire Zhou Mansion was in an uproar with everyone running around, except for the wicked slave who was still lying on the ground with his arm twisted into a rope-like shape, unconscious.

  The people around were afraid of trouble and retreated far away, only a few idle rascals with big guts came forward, lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked inside.

  It turned out that in the carriage were several maids, surrounding a beautifully dressed concubine. When they saw some idlers approaching, the faces of these maids all showed expressions of disgust and fear.

  "What a beautiful beauty."

  A group of idle men were originally just casually looking around, but unexpectedly, as soon as they saw the beautiful woman in that car, one by one they all stared blankly.

  Even if Tang Ruowang saw it from afar, he would still be looking at a different situation. He often enters and exits the homes of high-ranking officials and nobles, and his age is also advanced. Moreover, he is known as a "foreign monk", and not a few inner attendants do not avoid him. However, even if they are heavenly beauties, compared to the one in front of him, they are far inferior.

  "How dare you, get out of the way!" Even among the maidservants attending to the beauty, there were some bold ones. Seeing that everyone was staring blankly, she scolded them angrily: "This is a family member of General Guo Ning's household, returning home after visiting the imperial relative... You're not afraid of death, just keep watching!"

  Before the words were finished, the sound of horseshoes was heard in the distance, and everyone knew that it was not someone from the Zhou family returning, but rather the old master of the neighborhood arriving with government soldiers. At this point, they all hastily dispersed to avoid being implicated.

  Before long, a group of men in gray robes rode up on horseback, also with shaved heads, but looking more robust and vigorous than the servants of the Zhou family. From a distance, they directly reined in their horses and jumped down from their mounts one by one without waiting for the horses to come to a complete stop. Many of the citizens of the capital who knew what was good couldn't help but secretly praise them, saying: "What beautiful horsemanship."

  Those men had only arrived at the carriage door and knelt down saying: "Your humble servants have come late to escort you, please do not blame us, madam."

  Their voices were also crisp and powerful, uniform and consistent. If they weren't all wearing grey robes and armor, but instead had changed into a suit of armor, they would have looked like well-trained elite soldiers.

  "There's nothing else, let's return to the mansion immediately."

  "Yes!"

  The people in the carriage didn't want to make a fuss, originally they didn't want to make a big deal out of it, just two carriages traveling together, but the Zhou family's people insisted on sending guards with them, and then something happened on the road, causing such a big commotion.

  The relationship between the superior and subordinate is quite difficult to get along with, and today's matter still doesn't know how to explain it properly.

  As the carriage curtains fell, the vehicle moved forward with a rumbling sound. At this moment, the lady was frowning and thinking: "Just now that young man didn't know which family's son he was disguised as. The martial arts of his entourage are probably not even among the best in our mansion. Looking at his temperament and appearance, he is even more outstanding. I don't know which family in the capital has produced such a formidable young master."

  Although she was only a concubine, her husband in Guanning had long since spoken out. The winds and clouds in the capital were changing, and her father was old. Last year, he was summoned to meet with the emperor, but his words were not taken seriously, and he was ridiculed by the generals of Liao Xi and the officials in the court... So when something happened, she was told to be more careful, and if there was anything worth saying, she would write it down in a letter and send it directly to Ningyuan via express horse.

  There are more than a dozen or twenty people in the mansion, and dozens of good horses, who specialize in running errands between Beijing and Ningyuan. Every one or two days, either the old master or this young lady has letters to send over, and Ningyuan also frequently sends letters back.

  Although they are far apart, they know each other's situation very clearly. And her young and heroic husband is also familiar with the major events in the court!

  As for today's matters, it is also necessary to write a letter to clarify, but as for the matter of this young man who easily changes his attire, whether or not to mention it, still requires some careful consideration...

  ……

  ……

  The crowd dodged through several alleys, running very fast.

  Zhu Ciyan was also swift and agile in the dark, with only one thought in his mind. At first, he felt absurd, but now it's becoming more and more determined! These days, as long as he had a chance, he would come out, under the pretext of reading, practicing martial arts, or training soldiers, as long as he could make an excuse to be in the East Palace, outsiders wouldn't know what he was really doing.

  In the East Palace, Li Jiding and Qiu Zhizhong had already been subdued. The other eunuchs were either rewarded or punished, with some being severely disciplined. The inner palace was still guarded by a group of palace maids who reported to him, and outsiders, even eunuchs, were not allowed to enter without permission. Therefore, he could stay outside for longer periods without fear of being discovered.

  As for these military officers around him, they have also gradually shown some signs in recent days.

  Li Gong is meticulous and can be entrusted with important tasks. Sun Chuanting's case was handled very well, stable and neat, really reassuring.

  Wang Yuan was a bit rough, but when it came to martial arts skills, no one among the military officers could match him. He was fierce and violent like fire, a good man who couldn't hide his intentions.

  Such people, as long as they are willing to serve, will remain loyal until death and can be trusted.

  Ren Shang is good at shooting, Wang Xiao is good at strategizing, and some other military officers are still not showing much for now, he needs to slowly dig deeper.

  As for the big event in front of us, it's already time to see the truth and can't be fake anymore.

  He suddenly stopped, his eyes piercingly looking at the crowd, his tone also unprecedentedly stern and serious. At this moment, he only looked at the crowd and said in a low voice: "I have a plan, listen up!"

  ……

  ……

  The group of performers Zhu Ciren had discovered were indeed scouts for the bandits.

  In Xiaoliu Camp, the scouts were also of various kinds, with vehicles, boats, shops, and even beggars. They disguised themselves as whatever they wanted to be. But when it came to traveling south and north, gathering military intelligence, spreading news, bribing officials, soldiers, and generals or civil servants, disguising themselves as performers was the most suitable.

  They entered the city on October 9, and while the rebel army was still outside Tongguan Pass, they had already begun to make arrangements for sending scouts to Beijing. This kind of thing was usually handled by Song Dazhen and Li Yan, the two chief military strategists, who were both extremely intelligent and far-sighted, with deep plans. The people below them did not dare to ask many questions, but just followed orders and carried out their tasks accordingly.

  This group of people entered the capital, wandered around for a few days, and both sides were burning with anxiety!

  This capital city, the place of prime goodness, before coming thought it was how neat and grand, also how solemn and sacred, who knew after wandering around for a few days, gradually lifting the veil, the conclusion is nothing more than those four words: Nothing special!

  The city defense is not even worth mentioning, there are many refugees, sewage everywhere, except for the noble people's living quarters, it's all like this. The number of soldiers in the capital camp is small, and morale is also low, so the deep and thick city walls, with dozens of gates, don't have a single official or soldier patrolling through.

  After entering the city, people broke out of the ban at night and sneaked to the top of the city wall, even reaching the gate tower. The city defense was so empty, and the people in the city were panicked. This Beijing city looked like that, but it had actually rotted from the inside... After taking a look around, the leader, an old man surnamed Wang, had already made up his mind that once the great army arrived, the capital would be taken, and everyone who followed Li Zicheng for over a decade would finally achieve their goal.

  Lao Wang also had the important task of winning over officials in the capital, and just now something happened. The several young men under his command couldn't help but look at each other, with a mind to take action. That Hui Mei, a girl from Henan, was so angry that her pretty face turned pale.

  However, Old Wang stopped them and said in a calm tone, "Is an old woman more important or is the big matter more important?"

  Others were silent, but Huimei spoke up and said: "This bill I don't understand!"

  Old Wang's chest hurt, and he managed to stop this annoying little girl. After the matter was settled and the crowd dispersed, he found a quiet place behind him and said to the crowd: "You all remember that these dog officials, royal relatives, and imperial clansmen are not good people. When the army enters the city, Chu Wang and General Liu will not let them off, and you also know the fate of Fu Wang. Who did our rebel camp spare?"

  Everyone nodded in agreement, and Old Wang was visibly pleased. However, he still spoke in a low tone to the crowd: "We need to be quiet for now; our business can only start in full swing after a few more months. For now, we must keep a low profile... even if someone hits us, we cannot hit back. Do you all understand?"

  "Understood." The crowd responded in unison.

  Lao Wang smiled with satisfaction, leading the crowd to leave, but a young man suddenly said: "The capital can't be said to have no capable person. The short fellow who just fought, his body is like iron casting... I think he looks a bit like Hao Yaoqi."

  "Hmph." Old Wang sneered, feeling a faint sense of unease in his heart. He had seen those people a few times tonight, but they hadn't continued to follow them and had left early instead. So he didn't think it was likely that they were from the factory guard. Since it wasn't their concern, there was no need to get involved. With a wave of his hand, he said decisively: "Tonight, go check on the situation at each city gate... Other people's business is none of our concern, and even if we wanted to intervene, we can't. Just remember one thing I say: be content with your lot, do your job conscientiously, and absolutely don't stir up trouble!"