Chapter 209: The height of the temple (39)

Although Baiyun Temple is in the city, it is located in a forest. The woods and walls separate the noise of the city from the Taoist tranquility and become two different worlds. Baiyun Taoist Temple has a large number of flowers, plants and trees. Although it is December, it is still full of green gardens. The elegant environment is a different artistic conception compared with the solemn and openness of the Buddhist temple.

Not long after Tang Shi got up at night, he was in a daze. Suddenly a familiar smell came. "Mi Xiang". Tang Shi immediately woke up. Mi Xiang was a common thing he used. It can be said that he was a good friend who never left his body. Unexpectedly, someone showed off his axe and played a big knife in front of Guan Gong. Tang Shi always lie down in harmony when he was sleeping, and his sword was under the pillow. After finding Mi Xiang, he immediately held his breath and got off the bed with a light hand. Then he scored a sword and turned on the thief who was blowing Mi Xiang.

Tang Shi was very experienced in the world. After a sword, he heard someone outside roaring softly and immediately determined that there was more than one person outside. Since the people outside were going to use a pill, they must be cruel and vicious thieves. If they went out from the main entrance, they might be stumbling ropes, limes, slaps or fish nets outside. Therefore, Tang Shi raised his leg and kicked the wooden window, danced a sword flower, and broke the window and came out.

In the air, Tang Shi held two Ling Li's quick knives.

The terrain outside the guest room was not wide, and it was a small piece of solid flat ground. There were bushes half a person tall inside and inside. There were many people and could not be merciless, which could easily cause chaos. Luo Qingsong asked seven personal guards holding the "Five Tiger General Crossbow" to spread on the periphery, blocking the escape path of the people inside the house.

With a few crisp sounds of weapons intersecting, the tiger in the forest and Luo Qingsong were already fighting with Taoist priest Tang Shi.

After three or four moves, Luo Qingsong and Lin Zhonghu were in danger one after another.

Tang Shi was also extremely surprised. He walked around the world, except for defeat in Ling Jing, and rarely encountered opponents. He originally thought that the little thief who was mysterious in the air must not be a general of one combination. Unexpectedly, the two of them had fierce sword skills and had no false moves. The swords were straight to the vital points. He wanted to ask the two of them according to the rules of the world, but the swords were forced to have no chance to speak, let alone a hidden weapon.

At this time, the other six houses had already ended the battle. In other words, the battle ended before the battle began. The personal guards' mistresses did not fascinate Tang Shi, but the ordinary Taoist priests in Baiyun Temple lost consciousness in the mist.

The three of them had fought fiercely for ten moves, and Tang Shi was unable to break through the attacks of the two. He had already seen the enemies surrounding him in his eyes. Tang Shi was a little panicked, and Ling Li's sword flashed sideways, and took the time to ask: "Who is the hero?"

The answer was two crazy sword shadows.

Tang Shixin was determined to retreat. He used a move "Snow Falls in the River", and the illusory sword shadow wrapped them all in it. This was the sword move that Tang Ran, a hero of the Tang Sect, learned by the Yangtze River in his later years in his later years. It was extremely powerful and was most suitable for hitting more with less.

"Snow falls into the river" is a typical defensive counterattack technique. It has strict defense and counterattacking Lingli is like the twinkling stars in the sky, and a fatal blow is hidden among the stars.

Luo Qingsong saw that the opponent's sword tip suddenly turned into countless. He did not know which one was the real sword tip. He suddenly raised the knife and shouted: "Born", as if he was going to attack in. This was Luo Qingsong's secret code, and "Born" actually means retreat.

Luo Qingsong's long sword slashed down suddenly, and the sword suddenly turned into a flying knife while walking, heading straight to Tang Shi's face. In the competition between experts from the martial arts world, weapons are like life. It is often said that "the sword is there, and the sword is dead, and the sword is dead." Luo Qingsong's flying knife attacked the enemy, but he really did not play according to the rules of the martial arts world. Tang Shi blocked his wrist and flew out of the stars like lightning in the tip of the sword, and hit the flying knife directly.

Taking advantage of the moment when Tang Shi was out of his sword and fencing, Luo Qingsong and the tiger in the forest had already jumped out of the battle circle and retreated into the bushes. The spikes on the bushes cut countless holes in their clothes. Seven guards were waiting for the opportunity to shoot, and saw them dodge. The "Five Tigers General Crossbow" made a "whistle, whistle" sound from different angles, like a black snake, and bit Tang Shi.

Tang Shi saw two masters retreating into the bushes in a mess, and he leaned into his waist with his left hand, took a flying grab, and before he could throw it out, the crossbow arrows were already hit. The crossbow arrows were made of iron, and although they were only eight inches long, they were heavier and faster than ordinary crossbow arrows.

Tang Shi's martial arts were really good. The sword light flashed, and several "ding" sounds, four crossbow arrows were shot down by the long sword, but three crossbow arrows broke through the defense and shot Tang Shi. One branch was on his legs and two branches shot into his waist and abdomen.

Tang Shi waved his sword while exerting his strength on his left hand. He shot straight at a big tree in front of the house. Tang Shi flew on the window, pulled the flying grab tightly, and tried his best to swing towards the big tree with his left foot, but unexpectedly, there was no strength on his left foot. When Tang Shi looked down, he saw that seven or eight crossbow arrows had been shot in his chest and abdomen.

Tang Shi was depressed and stood on the window and murmured, "I'm roaming all over the world, but I didn't expect the boat to capsize in the gutter." The third round of crossbow arrows arrived again, Tang Shi had lost his ability to resist, and was shot three crossbows one after another. He opened his mouth wide, blood was pouring out, and he had already died on the window. Before his death, Tang Shi still held Feizhao in his left hand, and the sword in his right hand stabbed the window frame. He leaned on Feizhao and the sword to support him, but he stood in front of the window without falling, staring at the enemy attacking him with his eyes.

Luo Qingsong looked at Tang Shi who was like a demon in the dark, took a breath of cold air and said, "If there were no Five Tiger Generals Crossbow, we would have fallen home." Luo Qingsong felt a hot feeling coming from his shoulders. When he touched his hand, he found blood. "Damn it, I was hit by a sword." In the fierce battle just now, Luo Qingsong did not find himself hit by the sword. When he relaxed, he felt a piercing pain.

Luo Qingsong is the person in charge of this operation. He ordered: "Retract all the crossbow arrows from the ground, and don't leave a single one."

Lin Zhonghu hated Tang Shi for killing a personal guard, and reached out to pull Tang Shi's belt. Tang Shi fell heavily to the ground. Lin Zhonghu carried Tang Shi's body into the room. Luo Qingsong reminded: "I heard that this guy is good at using poison. Be careful when searching for him, don't get infected with dark poison."

After the oil lamp in the house was lit, Tang Shi was soon peeled into a white chicken. The tiger in the forest carefully searched a large number of hidden weapons from his clothes, including money darts, plum blossom needles, Ruyi beads, etc. The plum blossoms were tit-for-tat in black, which seemed to be poisonous. In addition, there were a small amount of Tongbao and some boxes of all sizes. The boxes were covered with white paste.

Luo Qingsong observed the things that Tang Shi used for a while and said, "Tang Shi is a gentle man, and it seems that he is also a wealthy family, so why is there only a few small money?" Lin Zhonghu smiled and said, "The Jiedu often tells us that the corners of the house, under the table, behind the drawing, under the hollow bricks, and on the top of the beams are all good places to hide treasures. I wonder if this Taoist priest has treasures."

The two of them were searching around while talking. No abnormalities were seen in the house. Luo Qingsong pointed to the beam and said, "Tang Shi is a guest. It is impossible to set up a mechanism in the house. If I want to hide things, hide it on the beam." The tiger in the forest saw that the beam was quite high, so he took the flying grab on his body, steadily put the beam on the beam and quickly climbed it on the beam. The tiger in the forest rode on the beam and chuckled proudly: "As expected, there was a bag on it."

When they opened the bag, both of them were stunned in the local area, under the oil. Dozens of jewelry shone brightly, and in addition to the jewelry, there were also several parchment rolls.

Lin Zhonghu picked up an exquisite hairpin, looked at the light, and said, "This is a wife's thing. How could a Taoist priest have these things? Tang Shi is either a novice or a thief." Luo Qingsong looked at these treasures and smiled and said, "Tang Shi has not been to Daliang for a long time, and he can't seduce so many rich ladies. He must be a thief."

Tang Shi had many crossbow scars on his body, so he could not be left in the temple. The guards took Tang Shi's body and quickly left Baiyun Temple. Before leaving, the guards had carefully wiped the ground. Although the blood was difficult to completely clean up, the faint blood seemed to be able to cover up yesterday's fierce battle.

The next morning, the Taoist priests in Baiyun Temple woke up and felt a splitting headache. They didn't realize that something had happened. They went out in a dizzy way, conveniently, and washed their faces. After a long time, they found that the guest room was abnormal.

Liu Jiangqing, the Wei Wei in the south of the city, hurried to Baiyun Temple with several yamen runners, asked the Taoist priest Baiyun Temple, and carefully investigated the scene. Since he didn't know whether Taoist priest Tang Shi was alive or not, the Taoist priest Baiyun Temple was asked again. There were only broken windows, blood stains and several arrow holes on the scene. It was difficult to determine whether it was a murder or a fight, let alone solve the case.

All the yamen officials were veterans. When they saw this, they kept shaking their heads behind Liu Jiangqing. Liu Jiangqing took office and led a group of old officials as slippery as oil. They were often boycotted by open or secretly, making them like punching cotton and were never effective.

Richie's unit is located at the foot of Yinshan Mountain, and the Hu tribes surrounded it tightly. Richie's unit has always been united in order to survive, and is very united within. Their wisdom is mainly aimed at the enemy. Moreover, the experience over the past century has made Richie's unit act like Hu Feng, advocates force, pays attention to strength, and is generous in doing things.

These are extremely valuable qualities, but in the yamen, if you are as clear as water, how can you fight against the officials as slippery as oil? Liu Jiangqing is full of arrogance and has to fight against these incompetent yamen officials. Fortunately, the yamen officials are well-informed and know that Liu Jiangqing is a prime minister, and they all have a thin face and do not make things too difficult for Liu Jiangqing.

Standing at the window, from the vague bloodstains, Liu Jiangqing closed his eyes and imagined what happened last night: the Taoist priest named Tang stood on the windowsill and was shot by an arrow. The blood kept flowing down from his body and then flowing from the windowsill to the ground.

Why did Taoist Tang stand on the windowsill?

The windowsill of the guest room was completely broken. Liu Jiangqing looked at it but found no useful clues. Liu Jiangqing lowered his head and thought for a while. He slowly walked to another house, came to the window for a while, and then finished looking at all the six houses, and his heart was already bright.

Several yamen officials did not follow Liu Jiangqing to check the room. They stood in front of the guest room and gathered together. A fat-faced yamen official whispered about his bad luck in gambling yesterday. Several yamen officials followed the fat-faced yamen officials' vivid explanation and smiled "eat, eat".

These yamen officials are all natives from Daliang, and the nine turns and eighteen knots are related to the powerful and powerful in the court. The iron-clad officials have served many city lieutenants. Some city lieutenants have become successful and become generals and important officials in the court, while some city lieutenants have been dismissed or kicked out of Daliang City. On the contrary, these yamen officials have stayed in the yamen for more than ten or even twenty years, accompanying one chief after another, which can be regarded as "standing at Kaifeng Prefecture and watching the storm and clouds with a smile."

Before they could figure out Liu Jiangqing's pounds, they took a look at it and tried it out, and were indifferent to him.

Liu Jiangqing shouted to Liu Jiulang, the small leader of the yamen official, in the westernmost room, "Liu Jiu, come here." Liu Jiulang restrained his smile, walked to Liu Jiangqing, and said, "Sir, what's the matter?" Liu Jiangqing pointed to the small hole in the window paper, "Liu Jiu, look at this hole." Liu Jiu leaned down, looked at it for a while, and looked up and said, "The hole is still a little wet. If it is not wrong, it should be left last night."

In the dark night, the window paper is pierced. Of course, it will not be a good thing.

Liu Jiu followed Liu Jiangqing to check the other five houses one by one, and the windows of the five houses were all damaged. When they got together, the yamen officials saw that the two of them were very careful in their observation and seemed to have discovered something, they surrounded them.

Liu Jiangqing said to several yamen officials: "These Taoists are very ordinary, and no one is interested in eavesdropping on their sleep. Each window paper has a small hole, so it must be used to use the fragrance of mystery." Before teaching at Shishan Academy, Liu Jiangqing once walked through the world with the caravan. He is not unfamiliar with the tricks of the world.

Liu Jiangqing waved to an elderly Taoist priest not far away. The elderly Taoist priest kept looking at the yamen officials. Seeing the Chengnanwei waved, he hurried over. The elderly Taoist priest had a monkey face, wrinkles on his face, and two big bags of eyes, and two big eyes. He nodded and bowed to Liu Jiangqing attentively. Just like the guardian uncle, he had no trace of immortality.

"Master, did you get a headache when you get up?"

The old Taoist priest looked surprised and smiled flatteringly: "When I woke up this morning, I had a headache, just like someone was hitting him with a stick. Lord Chengwei was really a disaster. Even this can be seen."

Liu Jiangqing looked at the group of sad Taoist priests rubbing their heads and asked, "Do they have a headache after getting up?"

“That’s right.”

Liu Jiangqing nodded and said to the old Taoist priest: "Which Taoist priest has followed me to the yamen? I want to ask Taoist Tang about it." After that, Liu Jiangqing turned around and walked towards Guan, ignoring the yamen officials.

After Liu Jiangqing took more than a dozen steps, Liu Jiu whispered to the fat-faced yamen official: "This Tanhualang has some skills, but he actually saw it. He is not a nerd. Don't underestimate him, hurry up and follow him." The fat-faced yamen official curled his lips, as if he was a little disdainful, but when he saw other yamen officials following, he jogged a few steps and followed Liu Jiangqing.

Luo Qingsong and Lin Zhonghu had already knelt three incense sticks in the Hou Mansion courtyard. Hou Dayong still had not come out of the study. Random, Badao and both were familiar with each other. The two big mastiffs were quite polite, lying loyally beside Lin Zhonghu. Random still had an arrogant expression, squinted slightly, guarding Lin Zhonghu.

Luo Qingsong looked at the tiger in the forest with envy. For some reason, Luo Qingsong also lives in a different courtyard. He watched Random and Domineering every day. He feeds them a lot of times. However, Random and Domineering recognize the tiger in the forest. As long as the tiger in the forest is in the yard, they will follow the tiger in the forest, and they are ignorant of Luo Qingsong. At this time, when he saw Random and Domineering, he lay beside the tiger in the forest, and Luo Qingsong could only mock himself: The tiger in the forest must have been a big dog in his previous life. Random and Domineering will only meet him.

Hou Dayong appeared at the door of the study with a blue face. He stood in the study for a full incense stick of time before he walked out and came to the two of them: "Are you convinced today?" Luo Qingsong looked ashamed, "I am the commander, and I am not considering things, so I am so taken advantage of by the enemy."

"Before leaving, I remind you two many times that Tang Shi is very skilled in martial arts and try to avoid sex and close combat. According to the situation on the scene, find ways to lead him out, and then use the Five Tiger General Crossbow to raid him or cover him with a beast net, so that he can avoid casualties to the greatest extent." Hou Dayong pointed at Luo Qingsong's shoulder, "Life and death are only a few inches apart. If you also die in Baiyun Temple in battle, it will be really not worth the loss."

In this battle of Baiyun Temple, Luo Qingsong was in good command, but the man's plan was not as good as the heaven's plan. It was considered a disadvantage to the assassination of a personal guard by Tang Shi.

"In the future, both of you will become commanders. You must use your brain when fighting. You must always remember to preserve yourself to better eliminate the enemy. Only when you have to do so can you fight head-on with the enemy. Every time you fight against the enemy, you will definitely not become a good general." Hou Dayong waved his hand and said, "You go to Commander Liu and each will receive ten whips."

Hou Dayong said to Feng Sha next to him: "Li Fei, who died in battle, is from Cangzhou. He has a wife and two sons in the countryside. After paying the pension as usual, he told Mr. Wu of Cangzhou Prefecture that Li Fei's two sons would go to Cangzhou Prefecture to study, and all the living expenses would be paid from Cangzhou Prefecture. In addition, Li's wife would go to the mansion to receive two stale money every year."

In the yard of the Hou Mansion, Fu Ying carefully looked at a large bag of jewelry. Although she was from a wealthy family, she suddenly saw so many jewelry and felt dazzled. She looked at it carefully one by one and suddenly found a familiar gold necklace.

When Hou Dayong entered the room, Fu Ying said in surprise: "This Taoist Tang is really a thief. This jewelry belongs to his sister-in-law. Look, there is a small word "Lin" on it." Hou Dayong took the jewelry and saw a seal character "Lin" and said: "This must be the family inheritance of my mother-in-law. When my sister-in-law entered the door, my mother-in-law gave me a gift from the ground."

Fu Ying looked at Hou Dayong with praise, "Alang is really a trait. You can tell the whole story by looking at a word. When did the sister-in-law lose the golden necklace? She was beaten by her brother. The last time her father came to Daliang, she talked about this. Tang Shi really deserves to die, and she made her sister-in-law beat her up."

Fu Ying handed over three more pampered rolls.

Hou Dayong spread the sheepskin rolls open, looked for a while, his face turned gloomy and said, "These three sheepskin rolls are all maps. These two are maps of the deployment of troops from various parts of the Great Zhou Dynasty. This is a distribution map of the important official mansion in Daliang City." Hou Dayong pointed to the map and said, "This map is quite accurate. Look, the Hou's Mansion is here."

Seeing these three maps, the big stone in Hou Dayong's heart finally fell to the ground.

Hou Dayong was fully responsible for the preparations for the Northern Expedition. The key to whether the Northern Expedition could be successful is whether it could be unexpected. The key to unexpected is whether the "speaking east and attacking west" can work. Therefore, Hou Dayong was particularly sensitive to spies in Western Shu. He was more willing to kill the enemy than let him go. Tang Shi had various questions about sending a guard to capture and kill Tang Shi. Now the evidence shows that the initial suspicion was not that all plants and trees were sold.

Hou Dayong soon fell into a question again: The third princess was poisoned by the Tang Sect, but the poisoned person was definitely not Tang Shi. So, who poisoned the third princess?

After the collapse of the Tang Empire, warlords were divided and wars were as numerous as cows. Wars occurred one after another in the north, and society was greatly damaged. Every year of disaster, starvation was everywhere, and the situation was terrible. Guo Wei and Chai Rong worked hard for eight years, and the Central Plains gradually entered a recovery period, and the trend of revival appeared.

The wars in the south were much less than those in the north. The peaceful environment made the southern economy surpass the north, forming several economic areas centered on big cities.

Shu, centered on Chengdu, was an old area since the Han Dynasty. Whenever the Central Plains were in chaos, some people would establish themselves in Shu. The agriculture and industry and commerce in Western Shu were extremely developed, and the Chengdu market was extremely prosperous, including silkworm market, medicine market, Qibao city, etc., with a huge market transaction volume.

Hangzhou, the capital of Wuyue, has become a bustling metropolis in the southeast and is known as the "Earth Heavenly Palace". Because Wuyue was blocked by the Southern Tang Dynasty, its trade with the Central Plains all went from Hangzhou to Qingzhou, Shandong Province from sea routes to sea routes. The commerce of sea routes is becoming increasingly developed.

Yangzhou is located in the canal, at the junction of the Yangtze River, and is the resident place of the salt and iron transport envoy in the Tang Dynasty. On the one hand, the place is the center of inland shipping, and on the other hand, the foreign ships can also be imported from the Yangtze River to Yangzhou. Therefore, there are many Hu merchants in Yangzhou. It is a concentration of big businessmen, wealthy officials, nobles and famous prostitutes. Du Mu lived in Yangzhou for a long time and lingered in the wind, snow and moon. When he woke up, he sighed that "I have been dreaming of Yangzhou for ten years and won the reputation of being a blessed brothel."

In addition, Guangzhou is the largest trading port in Nanyang. It has many ships and merchants gathered. There are Brahmins, Persians and other ships, carrying incense, medicine and treasures, and it is as prosperous as a mountain.

The Great Zhou imperial capital Daliang City. In terms of prosperity, it is not as good as Chengdu, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Guangzhou and other cities. However, these separatist regimes are rich but not strong. In the face of the powerful military forces of the Great Zhou, there is danger of destruction at any time. Because of this, Daliang City has become a competition for various forces, with calm surfaces and surging in the dark.

In the Baiyun Temple incident, Liu Jiangqing was approaching the truth, but Taoist Tang Shi lived and died, and the nature of the case could not be determined. Finally, the case was sent to the new Kaifeng Prefecture Gang Jurun. Zan Jurun set the tone of the case in one sentence: "The Taoist priest, monk, traveling around, coming and going without a trace. Is there a case to investigate? Is there nothing to do in Chengnanwei? Is there anything to do? There is no need to mention this matter."

The love man around Liu Jiangqing was given by Zan Jurun. At this time, although he felt that the Baiyunguan case was full of doubts, he had to give up in the face of the prefect's decision.

The poisoning incident of the third princess made Hou Dayong and Fu Ying feel quite difficult.

"Apart from the madman, anyone has a motive to do things. On the surface, the third princess died of poisoning. The biggest beneficiary is Concubine Tian Shu, and the biggest suspect is Concubine Tian Shu. However, Concubine Tian Shu has two sons, and the one who threatens her is Chai Zongxun. She really has no need to take the risk of extermination to poison a princess, so Concubine Tian Shu will not be stupid enough to poison and murder the third princess."

Hou Dayong emphasized, "If it weren't for Concubine Tian Shu, who would have taken this murder?"

Fu Ying's little face was still haggard. She held her cheek and sat at the beard table in front of the window. The tabletop was made of good old wood in the mountains, and the circles of patterns were like water waves. It was very clear. Langjun loved this tabletop with only varnish. According to him, these patterns were the age of trees. Every year they grew, they would add a circle to the trunk. Fu Ying listened to Langjun's words while stroking the tabletop with his fingers, thinking: "This tabletop is actually two hundred years old."

When Hou Dayong saw Fu Ying a little absent-minded, he stopped, "Xiaoying, what are you thinking?"

Fu Ying then came to her senses and smiled at Langjun with some embarrassment, saying, "This tree has lived for two hundred years. It would be great if a person wants to live such a long life. I am worried that if the poisoned person is not found out, Your Majesty, little sister, Zong Xun is in danger of life at any time."

Although this statement was a common word from a young woman, it was like a wake-up call, which made Hou Dayong's brain "buzz, buzz".

All of Hou Dayong's measures have been directed at the chaos after Chai Rong's death. According to known history, Chai Rong only had a few months of life. When the Northern Expedition was extremely successful, he suddenly fell seriously ill and died soon after. He died of illness and was less than forty years of death. Based on his understanding during this period, Hou Dayong was unwilling to believe that Chai Rong died of a sudden illness. Before Chai Rong became emperor, he was a brave and warlike general. After years of military life, he polished Chai Rong's body very strong. Although Chai Rong often stayed up late to comment memorials, he rarely got sick except for his poor complexion. Chai Rong's body was well-proportioned and not a fat head and big ears. The possibility of cardiovascular disease was evenly similar.

Could it be that Chai Rong died of poisoning after being unfortunately attacked by Xiaoying?

According to the history that Hou Dayong knew, Chai Rong died early, and the biggest winner was naturally Zhao Kuangyin, and Zhao Kuangyin was the most suspected of committing the crime. However, at this time, Zhao Kuangyin was far away in Dezhou and without the support of the imperial guards, seizing power would be a waste of money. From this point of view, there was almost no possibility of Zhao Kuangyin poisoning the land.

The poisoner must have someone else, perhaps it is related to the second stone tablet? If this is true, wouldn’t it be possible to find out the poisoner now to save Chai Rong’s life?

Thinking that Chai Rong might not die, Hou Dayong suddenly felt guilty: he formed the Black Eagle Army, established a wealthy shop, a military intelligence camp and a Feiying Hall, contacted the Richie Department, and conquered the Dangxiang Pochao Department, and established the fifth armed forces in Lingzhou. If Chai Rong did not die, all of his work would be collected by those who were interested, and it would be enough to convict him of a illegitimate plot.
To be continued...