Chapter 2: Past Life and Present Life
It's the season for harvesting rape, and the farm is bustling with activity. The fields are a sea of gold, and various machines are humming as they rush to harvest the crops. In the office of the farm director, Zhao Cheng is not busy in the fields like he usually is, but instead is staring at a copy of today's military district newspaper on his desk. The headline news is that the head of the military district visited Red Star Farm accompanied by leaders from the logistics department, and designated it as a "base for supplying non-staple food to troops" and announced plans to invest in building a materials distribution center. In the photo accompanying the article, several generals are chatting and laughing together, with Zhao Cheng's face visible in an unobtrusive corner of the frame, almost easy to miss if you don't look closely.
Zhao Cheng is over 30 years old, and a few years ago he was transferred here. He quickly turned this unit that had been a headache for the leaders into a well-organized one. Several thousand mu of sandy land were transformed into high-yielding grain fields, and a livestock farm, oil and food processing plant, and a comprehensive shopping mall to solve the employment problem of military dependents were built. The farm became a model unit with annual profits of nearly 100 million yuan. He made such great contributions, but his expression was not happy at all.
"I have to leave again, I can't stay here anymore!" Zhao Cheng said to himself, he picked up the phone and dialed a three-digit number, the call was quickly connected, "Hello, who is it?" "Number one, I'm Dark Arrow, I've been exposed!" Zhao Cheng said in a low voice.
"Oh, you get ready to evacuate immediately, I'll send someone to pick you up right away, be careful!" The other party did not have any suspicions and made arrangements immediately.
"Yes!" Their conversation lasted less than ten seconds, and even the most advanced eavesdropping devices today would not be able to pinpoint his location in such a short time. Zhao Cheng hung up as soon as he finished speaking, without even asking where he was going next.
"What's there to pack? I'm always ready to leave at any moment!" Zhao Cheng muttered with a bitter smile. The office was also his dormitory, and the trunk under the bed contained all his belongings. His entire fortune consisted of a few military uniforms issued by the army, no wife, no children, no house, only a bookshelf full of books, most of which were about agriculture, and a small portion were history books.
Zhao Cheng was not afraid of death, because he had seen too many deaths. He once had a happy family, with loving parents and an older brother who cared for him. Everything changed when he entered the military academy. He studied mechanical engineering, which had nothing to do with combat troops. During his third year, he went on a practical training exercise with the troops and participated in a kickboxing match. Because of his martial arts skills since childhood, he made it to the finals, where his performance caught the eye of the commander who selected special forces members, and he was recruited into the special forces brigade. Three years of intense training allowed him to stand out, after which he left behind normal life, severed ties with family, friends, and classmates, and used various means to erase any remaining traces of himself in this world.
As a special warfare expert, Zhao Cheng was active in various hotspots, assassinating terrorists who harmed China's interests, eliminating traitors who defected to the enemy, and clearing out enemy spies who infiltrated China. His repeated successes made the enemy hate him to the bone, putting a price on his head, but no one knew what he looked like, only that his codename was "Dark Arrow". During an overseas rescue mission, his true appearance was accidentally revealed to the enemy, after which he went into hiding at this farm, never using any advanced communication facilities again, and never appearing in front of a camera lens, hiding himself as deeply as an ostrich.
He doesn't take pictures, not that others don't have his photos. At least a hundred top assassins from various countries are now holding his photo and searching for him around the world, looking for any clues he may have left behind because his life is worth too much! Yesterday's newspaper has been delivered to the hands of major organizations at the fastest speed, and one by one, hot-blooded assassins stimulated by money are gathering here from all corners of the world.
The lamp signal had passed, and Zhao Cheng walked to the bedside, took out a pistol from under the pillow, opened the safety catch, loaded the bullet, and put it beside him. He lay down on the bed with his clothes on, picked up a book "Song Shi" placed on the pillow, and flipped through it casually.
"In the first year of Jingkang (1126), in November, when the Jin army surrounded the capital for the second time until the establishment of the pseudo-regime by Zhang Bangchang in April of the second year of Jingkang, Emperor Huizong of Song, Emperor Qinzong of Song and officials of Northern Song had always fantasized about retaining power at any cost through diplomatic means."
"On January 22nd of the second year of Jingkang, an agreement was reached between the two sides: (The Jin) agreed to exempt Emperor Huizong from going north, with six people including Crown Prince Kang and the prime minister as hostages; they should provide tribute in the form of palace utensils. They also agreed to exempt the land south of the Yellow River and Bianjing, with two princesses, four imperial concubines, four clan concubines, 2,500 palace maids, 1,500 female musicians, and 3,000 artisans of various skills as tribute to the Jin every year. They also agreed to increase the annual tribute by five million bolts of silk and silver."
"The original agreement was that one prince, one prime minister, and blood relatives of officials outside the river should be sent quickly; they would be released after the handover. The originally agreed 1 million taels of gold and 5 million taels of silver for military expenses must be delivered within ten days without any shortage."
"If there was a shortfall, one princess could be exchanged for 1,000 taels of gold, one imperial concubine for 500 taels of gold, one clan concubine for 200 taels of gold, one imperial woman for 500 taels of silver, one clan woman for 200 taels of silver, and one noblewoman for 100 taels of silver. The Jin army could choose as they pleased."
"On the seventh day of February at noon, under the strict surveillance of General Gao Liangbi and Wanli Hu with tens of thousands of cavalrymen, Emperor Huizong led his wives, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and female slaves out of the imperial city. After being identified and checked by eunuchs, the empress dowager, princesses, and other noblewomen rode in carriages; below them, soldiers carried their luggage on horseback."
"Damn it, heaven is just a blind sparrow, his own wife and children were taken away by others, such a guy can also be made emperor!" Zhao Cheng angrily threw the book on the table and scolded.
The window, which had been suddenly shut tight, was smashed open and a dark figure rushed in. The lights inside the house immediately went out. Two gunshots rang out, and another corpse fell to the ground. Zhao Cheng didn't turn on the light, but walked to the window, preparing to pull it closed again. Just then, a meteor streaked across the night sky, illuminating his silhouette in its bright glow. With a dull thud, Zhao Cheng distinctly felt a scorching bullet tear through his flesh, shatter his breastbone, and pierce his heart.
"I'm finally dead, I don't know who got rich, this money is enough to buy ten farms like this" Zhao Cheng smiled helplessly, a mouthful of blood gushing out from the corner of his mouth. He struggled to lift his head towards the window outside, a figure quickly flashed past the wall, he raised his hand and fired a shot, the figure fell and disappeared into the darkness. At this moment, a loud rumbling sound came from the sky, a helicopter hovered in front of the building, several ropes were thrown down, several fully armed black-clad men quickly slid down, rushed into the building. But Zhao Cheng's eyes had already lost their luster, his body still leaning against the windowsill, holding a gun, on the table was that unfinished book "Song Shi".
"Who's crying? Am I not dead yet, how can I still hear the sound of crying?" Zhao Cheng suddenly woke up, but his body felt like it had a thousand pounds on it, he used all his strength but couldn't move his fingers. "The Empress Dowager is in mourning, the Second Prince probably won't make it, this old man has done his best!" "Royal Doctor Wang, really, there's no hope of saving him?" A woman sobbed, still clinging to her last shred of hope.
Zhao Cheng finally heard clearly, the cry he had just heard was indeed this woman's voice, but he became even more confused. This voice was very unfamiliar, and he had never met her before, so why would she be crying for him? And what's with the "Your Majesty" and "Royal Physician", did they think they were filming a movie or something?
"Your Majesty, forgive me for my incompetence. The pulse of the Second Prince is gone, and he has no strength to recover!" The imperial physician, Wang, knelt on the ground and wailed. "Aiyaa..." The Empress looked up at the comet in the sky outside the window and let out a long wail before fainting. The palace maids and eunuchs rushed forward to support her, while Wang hastily administered acupuncture. After a flurry of activity, the Empress finally came to. Although Zheng Guifei was currently deeply favored by the Emperor, she had only given birth to one son and one daughter. As she grew older, her son would be her future hope. This child was born prematurely and was diagnosed by the imperial physician as having been injured at the root, making it difficult for him to grow up. However, with her meticulous care and careful nursing, he had finally grown to seven years old. But on the previous day's Lantern Festival, in the newly completed Longfugong Palace, while watching the lanterns, he was pushed into the river by the crowd and never woke up after being rescued. Today, he was pronounced dead.
"What the...?!" Zhao Cheng, who was left hanging on one side, listened to the chaotic crying and shouting sounds, feeling uneasy in his heart. His many years of military life had cultivated a habit of being vigilant at all times. He struggled to open his eyes, but the scene before him almost made this seasoned warrior faint again. How could his body be so small? Those people who were crying out didn't seem to be acting, their expressions couldn't be any more genuine. Could it be that he had also "crossed over" like those pig-footed protagonists in novels?
Zhao Cheng quickly calmed down from the shock, looking around at his surroundings. On the wall in front of him hung a painting of red plum blossoms, with branches still standing tall and green leaves still glistening with dew. By the window was placed a pale red marble desk, on which were several inkstones and various pen holders holding lake pens. The high bookshelf was filled with books, both new and old, exuding elegance. His mother, although her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were red from crying, still maintained an air of quiet beauty and refinement.
"Zhaor!" The empress threw herself on Zhao Cheng's body again, wailing in grief. "Cough...cough..." Zhao Cheng's chest was squeezed hard, and a mouthful of thick phlegm was forced out from the corner of his mouth. "Zhaor! Zhaor!" Zhao Cheng was pressed so hard that his eyes rolled back, the phlegm had been coughed up, but he couldn't catch his breath.
"Your Highness, the princess is awake!" A palace maid rushed to Zhao Cheng's bedside and shouted loudly. "Back from the dead!" Wang Taiyi, who had been a doctor for most of his life, was seeing this for the first time and couldn't help but rush forward, grabbing Zhao Cheng's wrist with shaking hands, finally finding the pulse after half a day. "Your Highness, the princess is really alive," the old man said excitedly, tears streaming down his face, feeling that he had not lived in vain, having witnessed this miracle.
Just then, three people rushed in. The leader wore a nine-layered crown on his head and a yellow dragon robe on his body. He was tall and slender, with a face as smooth as jade and eyes like dots of ink. His spirit was handsome and elegant, but his eyebrows were tightly locked, as if he was worried about something. Following him were two Taoist priests, one old and one young.
"Your Majesty!" Amidst the chaos, someone finally noticed that the Emperor had arrived, and everyone in the room immediately knelt down. "My dear Empress, Erlang is gone, you must restrain your grief, don't harm yourself!" The Emperor helped the Empress up and consoled her. "Erlang isn't dead, he's come back to life again!" The Empress exclaimed tearfully.
"Oh?!" The two Taoist priests behind the emperor exclaimed in unison, taking a step forward and gazing towards the bed. Their eyes coincidentally met with Zhao Cheng's incoming gaze, both of them felt a sudden jolt. How could this child have such immense killing intent?
