Bajiang County was very small. Even though it was the administrative center of a province, the city was dilapidated and didn't have many decent buildings. The people under the rule of the Man province were mainly the Xie Man, the Miao people of later generations. Most of them lived scattered on the mountain ridges, so the place where the province was located was not very useful. Naturally, it was difficult to develop it into a large city.
However, the mansion of the Song clan was still worthy of their status as the number one clan in Bajiang. It was a large mansion that occupied an extremely large area, with halls, halls, and pavilions. It was lofty and imposing, and it was quite imposing. The front yard of the mansion was the Provincial Governor's Mansion and the county yamen, and the back yard was where the Song clan members lived.
Song Chumeng and Song Wanyou took the three imperial envoys into the mansion and settled them down. They also held a banquet to entertain them. During the banquet, they made some indirect inquiries and found out that the purpose of the three imperial envoys' visit was very different from Liu Guangye's. They faintly had the intention of opposing Liu Guangye. Song Chumeng and Uncle Song Wanyou were as if they had seen their savior and were immediately overjoyed.
However, after thinking about it, they became cautious again. They weren't sure if these people were really here to cause trouble for Liu Guangye or if they were just putting on an act. Officials protecting each other was not something exclusive to the Man province's officialdom, so the two of them didn't dare to speak of Liu Guangye's various atrocities in the Man province.
Song Chumeng was crafty and used a tone of praise to brag about Liu Guangye's' great achievements' in the Man province. Sun Yuxuan and the other two people's expressions immediately darkened.
The three of them were not cruel officials. Hu Yuanli was full of a sense of justice, Maqiao was born a commoner, and even though he was now a military officer, he didn't think of himself as an official. They couldn't accept this kind of indiscriminate killing of innocent people. Even though Sun Yuxuan had been an official of the Ministry of Justice since Zhang Chujin was the Minister of Justice, he was the same as them.
Sun Yuxuan was a scholar. In short, he was a bookworm, and a bookworm that stuck to certain conventions. That was why even though he had memorized a stomach full of books, he always felt that his ability to handle official matters in the Ministry of Justice was insufficient. This was why he received the nickname of 'difficult to write'.
Ever since Zhang Chujin and Zhou Xing came into power, the Ministry of Justice had always been strict and cruel. Sun Yuxuan, however, was a rare simple and honest person among this group of cruel officials. His style was also incompatible with these cruel officials. Fortunately, his position was similar to that of the archives in the future. He didn't have much power, so no one had coveted his position.
Now that they had left the capital together with Yang Fan, their position was already at odds with the Imperial Censorate. Now that they had heard of Liu Guangye's evil deeds, naturally they were particularly conflicted. Song Chumeng observed their expressions and confirmed that these three people really did not agree with Liu Guangye's actions. Only then did she signal to her nephew for Song Wanyou to pour out his grievances to the three imperial envoys.
The crimes committed by Liu Guangye in the Barbarian Province were too numerous to list. The three of them were filled with righteous indignation. Hu Yuanli slammed the table and stood up, shouting angrily, "He is simply devoid of conscience! Provincial Governor Song, where is Liu Guangye now? "
Song Chumeng sighed and said, "Early in the morning, Imperial Envoy Liu went to the countryside with the soldiers that this Provincial Governor had allocated to him. This Provincial Governor has never meddled in his affairs. I also don't know which village he went to today. "
… …
Yang Fan whipped the horse as if it was flying, galloping on the small mountain path. A strand of wild grass poking out from the grass by the side of the road was scraped by the horse's leg, violently swaying a few times. Before it could stop swaying, Yang Fan's figure had already disappeared an arrow's length away.
The horse was a good horse, its body strong and graceful, its muscles well-developed, its neck smooth and delicate, its body beautifully streamlined. When it galloped, its large hooves stomped on the ground with great force. However, it was currently in a very sorry state. All four of its legs were covered in mud, its entire body steaming hot, like a steamer that had just been opened. Even the horse's mane was drenched in sweat.
"This won't do. More haste, less speed. If I keep going like this, it'll die of exhaustion. I have to rest in a while. It'll be best if there's a stream to water the horse …"
As Yang Fan pondered, the whip that he had lashed out out of habit abruptly stopped in midair.
Yang Fan had been waiting for Xunqi and Zhe Zhu in Yao Zhou. Finally, the two of them had come, along with a Great Ghost Master of the Crow Man tribe.
A Ghost Master was a shaman who was the chief priest of a tribe. In a small tribe, the chief of the tribe would also be the Ghost Master. For example, the female leader of the Crow Man tribe who had given her wolf fang necklace to Yang Fan was also the chief priest of the tribe. For a large tribe like the Crow Man tribe, which had more than a hundred thousand people, politics and religion had long been separated. There were special people who were the chief priests of the tribe.
Meng Zhe Zhu had brought the Great Ghost Master of their tribe. He actually wanted him to preside over the ceremony and become sworn brothers with Yang Fan. Yang Fan readily agreed to Meng Zhe Zhu's request. Therefore, under the auspices of the Great Ghost Master, the two of them held a simple but solemn ceremony. They broke an arrow to swear an oath and became sworn brothers.
At the grand bonfire banquet held for them that night, Yang Fan asked Xunqi about the contents of the imperial edict that Wu Zetian had given to Pei Huaigu.
Yang Fan finally knew why Wu Zetian had turned from arrogant to respectful.
The Crow and White Barbarians of Yaozhou had rebelled. The Feng family of East Lingnan had rebelled. The Barbarians of West Lingnan were also restless.
Wu Zetian was not a stupid person. Perhaps she was a little suspicious, but no matter what, she did not believe that these barbarians had the ability and the price to convince the Crow Man, White Barbarian, Li Liao, Xie Man, and many other ethnic groups to support them in rebellion.
It was obvious that the people of the Imperial Censorate were used to being domineering in the capital. Even if the officials were the prime ministers, as long as they fabricated a crime of rebellion, they could only be slaughtered by them. These ruthless officials had already developed a supercilious mentality. They did not care about the barbarians at all. They were unscrupulous wherever they went.
The places where the criminals were exiled were mostly inhabited by the barbarians. The economy was backward, the people were tough, and the people lacked Taoism. These ruthless officials could do well in the capital. In these places where even the court could only use force and kindness, they used force to suppress the barbarians. This would definitely anger the barbarians and cause a strong backlash.
The rebellion reported by the Imperial Censorate was considered "true". However, this rebellion was not planned by the barbarians. It was orchestrated by this group of ruthless officials. Wu Zetian was angry and hateful. She was afraid that the situation would get out of hand. Therefore, she issued an edict to Pei Huaigu, ordering him to kill Huang Jingrong on the spot if necessary in order to quell the unrest in Yaozhou.
On the other hand, she issued a secret edict to Yang Fan, urging him to hurry to the various roads where the officials of the Imperial Censorate were heading. He was to stop the imperial envoys from killing the innocent and inciting the people to rebel. She also gave him the authority to kill people on orders. This imperial edict was the secret edict that Sun Yuxuan accepted on his behalf.
At the same time, Wu Zetian sent messengers to the Imperial Censorates who were patrolling the roads. She strictly reprimanded them and ordered them to stop the killing immediately to prevent the situation from escalating. However, these ruthless officials were scattered all over the roads. They traveled between the prefectures and counties. Sometimes, they even went deep into the mountains to capture the barbarians. The couriers were limited by their safety and travel routes. They might not be able to deliver the message in time.
When Yang Fan learned of the truth, he bid farewell to Xunqi and Zhe Zhu the next morning and headed east. Zhe Zhu provided him with two horses. They took turns to ride. Yesterday, when they passed by a mountain ridge, it happened to be raining heavily. The mountain road was dangerous, muddy and slippery. One of the horses lost its footing and fell into the mountain stream. In the end, this was the only horse left.
If something were to happen to this horse, it would be even more difficult to continue on his journey. Seeing that the horse was exhausted, Yang Fan did not dare to urge it any further. He had the horse gradually slow down. When they reached the middle of the mountain, the narrow mountain path became even more difficult to traverse. The branches and vines on both sides of the path almost buried the path. It seemed like it would take a long time for a pedestrian to pass by.
Yang Fan dismounted from the horse. Holding the reins, he brandished the scabbard and hacked away at the vines and branches to clear a path. As he continued forward, he suddenly sensed something strange. He had just stopped when a long shadow suddenly shot out from the underbrush in front of him. Yang Fan was shocked. He thought that it was a long snake. Fearing that the snake was poisonous, he swung his saber at the long shadow.
The saber fell and the long shadow was cut in half. With a plop, it fell back into the underbrush. Yang Fan took a closer look and saw that it was a rope.
How could there be a horse tripping rope in such a desolate and uninhabited place?
Yang Fan immediately knew that something was wrong. He arched his back and wanted to run back, but in that instant, all the strength in his body seemed to be sucked out. His vision blurred and he fell to the ground with his head raised.
A few people slowly stood up from the thicket. Their heads were wrapped in green scarves and they wore green lined shirts. Their lower bodies were hidden in the bushes and grass. Their faces were smeared with colorful paint, and they looked like mountain spirits and wild monsters that had suddenly emerged from the bushes.
One of the dark-skinned middle-aged men was moving a blowpipe away from his mouth.
Yang Fan fell on the grassy path. A thin needle was stuck in his neck. At the end of the needle, there were a few strands of red light that were used for orientation. They gently trembled in the wind.
This hair-thin blowpipe did not even cause the slightest ripple in the air when it flew. Even the most agile wild animals in the forest would not be able to detect it, let alone Yang Fan who had galloped all the way and was exhausted. Moreover, his attention had already been attracted by the horse tripping rope.
A few green-clothed men with animal tattoos painted on their faces walked out from the underbrush. The man who had shot the blowdart lowered his head to glance at Yang Fan, then looked at his exhausted steed. He frowned slightly and said in the barbarian language, "We seem to have caught the wrong person. This person has come from afar, he doesn't seem to be the spy of that dog of an imperial envoy!"
Another man fiercely said, "Who cares, he is also a Han person. Since we have caught him, we will kill him to pay with his life! "
After saying this, he slowly pulled out the saber from his waist. This saber was not long, only about one foot and two inches. This kind of saber was suitable for use in this kind of forest. A horizontal saber would not have any use in this kind of place. The body of the saber was curved outwards. There were two blood grooves on both sides of the blade, as well as two patterns in the shape of fingernails. The blade looked abnormally sharp and the hilt was not long. It was fixed with a bull's horn.
"Xie Feng, don't mess around!"
The blowpipe man reprimanded him and ordered another person, "Search his body!"
That person complied and squatted down to search the unconscious Yang Fan's body. He took out a pile of items. When he unfolded the imperial edict, the blowpipe man could not help but be moved and said, "This yellow satin has a dragon drawn on it? This is an imperial edict! I have seen it before. That dog of an imperial envoy only brought this item and broke into our stronghold to randomly kill people. Even Provincial Governor Song did not dare to control him! "
Xie Feng angrily said, "I said it was their people, and it was indeed true. This person might have given that dog of an order to harm people again. I will kill him! "
As Xie Feng said this, the sharp saber in his hand fiercely stabbed towards Yang Fan's chest. This time, the blowpipe man did not stop him!
… …
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