Chapter 35: Gathering of Heroes (5)

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  I've been absent for two days and I'm really sorry about it.

  It's now a matter of typing with one eye open and the other closed, brother has also worked hard to repay. During the new book period, I only hope for everyone's recommendation ticket support!

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  Eyes fixed on the bold and daring scout who had entered the Chen Mansion, he was greeted by the steward of the mansion. The several originally stern-faced Brocade Guards were all at a loss for words, even the usually unflappable Commander Huyan's face fell, and for a moment no one knew what to say.

  What can be said of a country when its Grand Chancellor and actual Prime Minister is a traitor?

  It's just the downfall of a country.

  "What's going on with the hundred households?"

  On the left and right, they were all the chief flags of the Brocade Guard, and also the only ones who could get things done in this special agency. At this time, Little Li and Gao Sheng had no idea what to do either, and they just stared blankly at Hu Yan Ao Bo.

  "Nature is staring down."

  Huyan Aobo was also stunned at first, but now he has calmed down. He smiled coldly and said, "We martial artists don't care about that much. We do our duty every day, even if it means betraying the court all day long. As long as we've done our part, that's enough."

  The implication is also very clear, there's still a lot of hard work ahead, but you don't have to kill yourself doing it.

  Anyway, eating this salary and taking this allowance, everyone has done it so far, and it's also considered to be worthy of the emperor and ancestors.

  "Wait and see..." Hu Yan Ao Bo smiled faintly, saying: "After a while, stare at them, find their old nest, report to the higher-ups to know how to deal with it, but it's not our responsibility. Tomorrow morning, we'll investigate that gang of thieves who robbed the wealthy in the capital!"

  ……

  ……

  Several brocade-clad guards stood waiting outside the Chen mansion, while on the city wall of Chaoyang Gate, a few people strolled along, laughing and chatting loudly in the dark.

  The Great Ming capital was originally the Yuan Dynasty's Dadu, and its original scale was not small. At first, the Hongwu Emperor made the Yan King reside here, because the city walls and the king's mansion were much larger than those of ordinary princes, and the emperor had to explain to the other kings.

  Later, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming dynasty established his capital in Nanjing, but like Emperor Taizu, he was afraid that no one would be left to guard the north. Therefore, he set down a national policy that the emperor should defend the country gate. Over a period of twenty years, the inner city and palace city were rebuilt, and during the Jiajing era, the outer city was also repaired, so the entire capital's defense system was finally established.

  The city wall of Chaoyangmen section was first built in the Yuan Dynasty, and it was called Qihua Gate at that time. After several repairs and renovations, it was expanded and renovated in the fourth year of Zhengtong, because it was a key point for grain transportation into the city, and also very close to the inner court, so the defense of Chaoyangmen was extremely important, and it was one of the most important gates among the nine gates of the inner city.

  Inspecting this place is the current Minister of War, Wang Jiaxun. He is holding a lantern in one hand and following him are, of course, Feng Kechang and Wei Yue.

  A nearly sixty-year-old old minister, from the sky getting dark to the top of the city wall, from Zhengyangmen to Xuanwumen, then from Xuanwumen to Dongzhimen, and finally back from Dongzhimen to Chongyangmen.

  Although the city wall is wide and solid, it's better to walk on than on the streets, but in the deep night, the strong wind blows, and the cold wind has no shelter, even if several people are wearing thick cotton-padded jackets, they were still blown through.

  As the wind seemed to be dying down, with a hint of stopping, Feng Kechang said: "Sir, why not take a rest in the city for now? The soldiers guarding the gate and the sheds also need to be checked. Just checking the top of the wall is quite meaningless."

  "You think it's going to snow and the old man can't hold on anymore?"

  All the way, they responded to each other. Although their identities and ages were vastly different, Wang Jia Yan was a humorous person and a respectable old minister, so among the three of them, they had become very familiar with each other, and when speaking, they had fewer reservations.

  It's indeed wonderful, a high-ranking official of the imperial court, a young master from a family of literary officials, and a martial officer guarding with his sword, the three of them walking back and forth on the city wall of Beijing under two lanterns. Above their heads is the dark sky, around them are the mournful sounds of the wind, the cold night wind is about to snow, surrounded by the quiet and deserted battlements, this feeling is truly wonderful.

  It seemed that Wei Yue was also moved by the atmosphere, and he smiled slightly, but his eyes looking at Wang Jiayuan were warm and respectful. He said: "Sir, the young master is in his prime, I am a martial artist, even so, I can hardly bear it... Sir, why not go down to the city to avoid the wind and cold? Looking at the sky, it's about to snow..."

  "Hmph, none of your business."

  Wang Jiayan waved his hand decisively, his voice already several degrees louder: "Wei Yue, you also eat the imperial camp's rations, take a look, we've come all this way, I've counted, there are over 5,300 embrasures, three city towers, two earthen forts, and more than ten hidden tunnels for troops. Take a look, is there even one person on the city wall?"

  "It's too cold... " Wei Yue smiled wryly and said, "If it were warmer, we might have encountered one or two patrol teams. On a night like this, it's hard to sneak into the city."

  "This won't do!" Wang Jia Yan raised his head, revealing a stubborn expression. He said: "In the past, Lord Li single-handedly patrolled the inner and outer cities with only one lantern, inspecting over 19,000 battlements, so the city's defenses were strict. Now, I'm not talented, but I'll follow the example of my predecessors, thoroughly investigate all the battlements, towers, and tunnels, and then request a severe investigation. It should be somewhat stricter... Don't say anything more, either continue to accompany me or let me go alone with one lantern!"

  This old man is really stubborn enough, Feng Kai Zhang and Wei Yue can only look at each other with wry smiles... apart from following, isn't there another way to put it?

  "How?"

  The old man was still huffing and puffing, and continued to ask questions.

  It's no wonder he was so arrogant, as the Deputy Minister of War, he had a very heavy responsibility in military affairs, and he was also the Assistant Minister of the Military Government. The defense of the capital city was also closely related to him.

  Now patrolling for so long, not to mention that there are no fixed sentry posts with spears on the city wall, even the patrol teams have not encountered one. Such a large city wall, although thick and solid, high and majestic, corner towers, arrow towers, hidden soldier towers, shooting mouths, urn cities, female walls, all defenses are complete... but without soldiers defending the city, no matter how high the city wall is, what can be done?

  The country has come to this point today, and it's really a desolate and bleak end of the world.

  "Look...!" Seeing Wang Jiayan's indignation, Feng Kechang pointed to the top of his head and smiled: "It's snowing."

  ……

  ……

  It's snowing as expected, the snow is falling densely and rapidly, coupled with strong winds at night, the cold wind is howling. Standing on the city wall near Chaoyang Gate, looking forward, everything is pitch black, it's a vast expanse of darkness that stretches beyond what the eye can see, making one's heart tremble with fear, not daring to take another glance.

  Looking back and gazing south, only the palace city in the distance is particularly bright, with lanterns fixed or floating, lighting up the place. Although it's hard to see far due to the wind and snow filling the sky, one can still make out the majestic and grand outlines of the three great halls from a distance by the light of the lamps.

  Apart from the imperial palace, in the courtyards of wealthy families near Chaoyang Gate, lights could be seen flickering, but elsewhere it was all darkness and silence.

  Only the snow falling under the lamp shadow, regardless of wealth or poverty, and whether it is bright or dark, falls diligently.

  But under the cover of night, those who are up to no good have no intention of looking into the city, and it's the heavy snow that makes their eyes almost impossible to open. In such weather, doing things is even more arduous.

  "Old Ren, Si Da, tell your men to hurry up."

  "This little girl weighs over a hundred pounds, you try carrying her!"

  "My several brothers all died, alas, this time is really a great inauspiciousness."

  "Your brother is not mine? At this time, what's the difference between us?"

  "It's not that... " The one who spoke was a hundred-family surnamed Duan, and at this time he said hesitantly: "The corpse wasn't snatched out, although the face was cut, but in the chaos, it wasn't cut very badly. If someone investigates..."

  "Pah!" Shi Baihu spat out a mouthful of saliva, shaking his head and sending the snow that had accumulated on his body and head falling off. He looked more spirited now, with a wicked grin spreading across his face. "Who's afraid of him? Although we didn't succeed this time, we managed to snatch this little girl away, and I know all about her. She was first obtained by Tian Huang in Jiangnan, who then tried to present her to the Emperor as a gift. But the Emperor is a foolish man, afraid that she would bewitch him with her charms, so he sent her out of the palace without accepting her. Then Wu Sangui took over, treating her like a precious treasure... Now that we have this little girl in our hands, do you think we won't get a handsome sum of silver? Once the silver is in hand..."

  The words below, he didn't say them out loud.

  If it's said that the silver is to be presented to the crown prince again, even a ghost wouldn't believe this. Everyone started fighting and grabbing, once they got their hands on it, there was no going back to how things were before. Once they got the silver in hand, everyone scattered and ran away, in this chaotic world, hiding one's name and identity, who would still be worried about finding a place to settle down?

  These words also made everyone's heart feel at ease. However, people in their hearts were also indignant and couldn't help but wonder: originally a serious and loyal military officer, how did he become a bandit and now even plan to be the leader of kidnappers?

  This unease, in a short while, was blown away by the heavy snow, leaving no trace. The seventeen people took action, and six were killed at Wu's residence. That group of housekeepers indeed had excellent martial arts skills and marksmanship. Everyone fought to the death, and with the help of luck, they managed to seize this hostage in the inner courtyard, barely escaping.

  At this moment, use a sack to carry this Wu Fu Xiao Niang onto the city wall, take a short rest, confirm that there are no pursuing soldiers, and then make plans.

  "It seems no one is chasing us..." Duan Baihu fell a head and face of snow, his long sideburns were full of ice pellets. He leaned on the city wall, laughing: "Damn this ghostly weather, naturally there won't be anyone on the city wall... In this situation, who would come to the city wall?"

  Before he could finish speaking, he was like a man who had seen a ghost, his hands trembling as he pointed at the bright yellow light in the distance, stuttering: "Look!"

  No need for him to remind, a dozen or so wandering spirits and wild ghosts also saw clearly, under the two lanterns there were several figures, rushing towards this side in a hurry.

  "Who is it? What does he want?"

  Not far away, under the bright lights, an old voice was sternly questioning. Everyone present were national officials and had heard such a tone countless times before. Upon hearing it, they immediately knew that the one speaking must be a high-ranking official with great power in his hands!

  "What should I do?"

  Everyone's face was filled with alarm, and in the midst of urgency, on such a cold day, sweat even broke out on their foreheads. Only the hundred surnamed Duan had a ferocious expression, making a very obvious gesture towards his own neck.

  As they watched him, everyone nodded in unison, and for a moment, their spirits were lifted. They all drew out the weapons they wore on their bodies and moved forward towards the bright light of the lamp.