When Ning Que woke up, it was still dark by the Shubi Lake. He poured the remaining mutton into the ashes of the bonfire in front of him and carried Sangsang back to the carriage. Then he let the Big Black Horse start the journey to the south.
The black horse carriage was not as fast as it was a few days ago. It set off before dawn and arrived at the outskirts of the earthen city in the south of the Shubi Lake when it was almost noon.
Sangsang had already woken up. She leaned against the window and looked at the familiar scenery without saying anything. Her expression did not change until she saw the border city surrounded by loess in the distance.
Ning Que looked at the small city in the distance and said, "Let's look at it more. We may never see it again."
The two had lived in the Min Mountain since childhood, full of cruelty, blood, and betrayal. It was not until they came to the City of Wei to join the army that they finally had a relatively peaceful life and tasted the warmth of the human world for the first time. They had lived in this border city for many years and had their own home and many debts.
The City of Wei was their real hometown.
…
…
Ma Shixiang had been a deputy general in the City of Wei for many years. Because he had no family background and there was no big war between the Tang Empire and the Golden Tribe, it was extremely difficult for him to accumulate military merits. Therefore, he had never been promoted.
In another year, he would retire from the border army and return to his hometown in Langya County. He was very satisfied with this because he had accumulated a lot of silver over the years. His only regret was that he had less money to collect firewood in recent years.
Since that guy left the City of Wei with his handmaiden, the fate of the City of Wei seemed to have worsened. The pressure of the Golden Tribe Royal Court on the Wilderness on the border of the Tang Empire gradually increased. Although the Golden Tribe Royal Court still dared not invade the border, the cavalrymen of the big tribes often pretended to be horse gangs and attacked the logistic teams heading to Helan City, which annoyed the Seven Stockaded Villages, including the City of Wei, and even the entire northern border army.
Now Ma Shixiang was more worried about another thing. Looking at the dark clouds gradually floating over the City of Wei, his gray hair trembled slightly. How could he deal with those bigwigs in the city?
Now in the City of Wei, in addition to hundreds of experienced cavalrymen, many bigwigs also came a few days ago. Two real generals of the Imperial Military Ministry with dozens of crossbowmen, more than ten officials of the Imperial Center Administration, and three officials of the Imperial Astronomer all came to this inconspicuous border town for some reason.
It was said that the other frontier fortresses in the Qicheng Stockade Village were in similar situations, but the City of Wei was obviously the focus of the bigwigs in Chang 'an. There were several powerhouses from the Southern Gate Temple among the dozens of officials from the Imperial Center Administration.
The powerful yamen in Chang 'an seemed to have transferred all its power here and directly took over the jurisdiction of the border. Surprisingly, the Northern Military Camp did not make any violent reaction.
There was no absolute secret in the world. The reason why these people came to the City of Wei had been spread two days ago. People in the City of Wei were shocked, but they had to accept it. Because they all saw the order issued by the West-Hill Divine Palace and knew that it was true.
As the dark cloud drew closer, Ma Shixiang's mood became heavier and heavier. He did not know what he should do or what he could do. When the military official issued the military order, he was so confused that he did not hear it.
"General Ma, did you hear what I said? Immediately lead the cavalrymen out of the city and rush to that cloud. Stop that black horse carriage at all costs! "
The military official shouted in a low voice.
Ma Shixiang felt a little relieved and asked, "Only drive it away?"
A gloomy Taoist from the Southern Gate Temple said, "If there is a chance to kill the Daughter of Yama, of course we can't miss it. Then tell your subordinates to act according to the situation and cooperate with us."
…
…
Hundreds of cavalrymen went out of the City of Wei, with several horse carriages among them. Ma Shixiang on the horse in the front was very silent, so were the cavalrymen. In the silent and depressing atmosphere, the team came to a slightly higher meadow.
The dark clouds had already passed the meadow and were extremely wide. The front part was about to enter the City of Wei, but the back part seemed to stay near the Shubi Lake, covering the sky for many miles.
The cavalrymen looked up at the clouds above their heads, still silent, but their expressions were extremely complicated. When they looked down, they saw the black horse carriage moving slowly under the clouds and exclaimed.
Several adjutants and hundreds of cavalrymen looked at their superior at the same time. Ma Shixiang pulled the reins with blue veins slightly visible, but his face was expressionless and he did not give any orders.
An official of the Imperial Center Administration got off the carriage and looked at the black horse carriage in the distance. His expression suddenly became serious, and he found that the cavalrymen around him did not move. He shouted angrily, "What are you waiting for?"
Ma Shixiang said, "I received the military order not to let that black horse carriage enter the city. Now it has not entered the city, so we can only wait."
The Taoist from the Southern Gate Temple shouted, "This is a great opportunity to kill the Daughter of Yama. What are you hesitating for? Do you want to let that horse carriage go? "
Ma Shixiang was still expressionless and said, "I am a soldier of the Tang Empire, and I only carry out military orders."
The official of the Imperial Center Administration hurried to the horse carriage behind and looked at the official of the Military Ministry, who waved his arms angrily and shouted, "The military must cooperate with our action. You immediately order the cavalry to attack!"
The official of the Military Ministry was silent.
The official of the Imperial Astronomer, who had the lowest position, tried to persuade him, "Although the imperial court issued a document asking us to monitor and drive away, His Majesty did not say that we should take the initiative to attack."
Ning Que and Sangsang had reappeared and were on the run, which caused a great disturbance in Chang 'an. However, the forces within the empire had different views on this matter.
Zhuge Wuren, the chief officer of the Imperial Center Administration, was a trusted follower of the Empress. He wanted to gather the power of the empire to destroy the black horse carriage and kill Ning Que, so as to remove a worry for the Empress. Although the Taoist cultivators of the Southern Gate Temple had no opinion on Ning Que, they believed in Haotian, so of course they wanted to kill Sangsang.
Princess Li Yu was on good terms with Ning Que and Sangsang. However, in the face of the possible catastrophe of the human world, she had to remain silent. However, to everyone's surprise, the most powerful and important military force was not very active in this matter. For example, at this time, the high-ranking official of the Military Ministry had not said a word.
The military of the Tang Empire had a very high status and only listened to the edicts of His Majesty and the military orders of their superiors. Therefore, the official of the Imperial Center Administration and the Taoist from the Southern Gate Temple could not force Ma Shixiang to attack with the cavalry of the City of Wei. Without the protection of the Tang cavalry, how could they dare to approach the black horse carriage?
The cavalry of the City of Wei stood on the meadow and looked at the black horse carriage, while the people of the City of Wei stood on the earthen city wall and looked at the black horse carriage. Both inside and outside the city, the emotions were equally complicated.
The people of the City of Wei had watched Ning Que and Sangsang grow up. They had never thought that Ning Que would cause such a stir after leaving the City of Wei, and that his little handmaiden had become the Lady of Light.
Ning Que and Sangsang were now well-known in the world, and they were the most famous people in the history of the City of Wei. They were the pride of the City of Wei, the people who talked about them enthusiastically, and the light of the City of Wei.
The boss of the gambling shop held the earthen arrow mound and looked at the black horse carriage in the distance. He sighed and said, "He still owes me more than a dozen gambling debts. It seems that he can never collect them in this lifetime."
A black-faced aunt looked at him and said sarcastically, "The silver that Ning Que and Sangsang send from Chang 'an every month is distributed among the people of the city. Do you think that all the silver given to you has been fed to the dogs?"
The boss of the gambling shop smiled awkwardly, and then said nervously, "I'm just joking … Speaking of which, the little girl had a hard time carrying a flagon to buy wine every day. Who would have thought that she would later become the Lady of Light, and finally the Daughter of Yama."
The people on the earthen city wall of the City of Wei already had complicated emotions. Many of them looked at the black horse carriage in the distance with horror and fear, and their faces turned pale when they heard about the Daughter of Yama.
The aunt looked at the people's expressions and spat down the earthen wall, "Bah! Ning Que is full of evil tricks, and the whole City of Wei knows that. But Sangsang is a kind girl, how could she be the Daughter of Yama? "
"That's what the West-Hill Divine Palace said."
"The West-Hill Divine Palace said that all the Tangs are guilty. Why don't you jump down to atone for your sins?"
…
…
The quarrels and even insults in the City of Wei did not affect the hundreds of cavalrymen on the meadow. It was still silent. An officer who had just come to the City of Wei this year could not bear the depressing atmosphere and the strong pressure from the officials of the Imperial Center Administration. He whispered to Ma Shixiang, "General, killing the Daughter of Yama is a great achievement. It's worth it even if it's risky."
Ma Shixiang glanced at him and did not speak. Then he looked at the black horse carriage and frowned slightly. Suddenly he whipped the reins and went back to the meadow, ready to go back to the city.
Hundreds of cavalrymen followed him down the meadow.
A Taoist from the Southern Gate Temple rushed to the front of Ma Shixiang's horse with a gloomy face. He scolded, "Ma Shixiang, what are you doing? I'll kill you for running away in the face of battle! "
Ma Shixiang shouted, "If His Majesty has a decree, I will send troops. If His Majesty doesn't have a decree, you old Taoist is nothing."
The officials of the Imperial Center Administration rushed over and scolded him severely, "Why did you stop the horse carriage outside the city?"
Ma Shixiang said, "The horse carriage will not enter the City of Wei."
The official scolded, "Ning Que is going back to the Academy. How can he not enter the City of Wei?"
"What do you know?"
Ma Shixiang looked at the official of the Imperial Center Administration and said contemptuously. Then he squeezed the horse's belly and pushed the official away. He led hundreds of cavalrymen away and soon entered the City of Wei.
That night, Ma Shixiang and several adjutants, as well as all the cavalrymen who had participated in the activity of cutting firewood at Shubi Lake, crowded the only restaurant in the City of Wei.
They talked about the story of Shubi Lake, the shabby courtyard, the little handmaiden carrying water, and the wine. Soon they drank all the wine stored by the owner of the restaurant.
Ma Shixiang was the military chief of the City of Wei. No one dared to compete with him, so he drank the most. When he was drunk, he looked at the people in the restaurant and said, "When Ning Que left the City of Wei, he said three words to me. Because of those three words, I won't kill him."
An adjutant belched and said, "I asked you before what was the content of Ning Que's three sentences, but you refused to tell me. Can you tell me now?"
Ma Shixiang stroked his beard and said, "I can't say, I can't say."
That night, Ma Shixiang was drunk, and the whole City of Wei was drunk.
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(Not bad, only ten minutes late … Everything else is fine, but my eyes are a little dizzy. Also, I write slowly.) (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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