Chapter 1: Forerunner

Chapter 1: Forerunner

  Chapter 1 The Forerunner

  In early autumn, inside and outside of Yangzhou City, the green hills have just added the colors of autumn and yellow, and it is still a lush and dense scene.

  In a Qingya courtyard hidden at the foot of the mountain, it was extremely quiet at this time.

  In the secret passage where the sun can’t be seen, a thirteen-four-year-old boy wearing a moon-white brocade robe is full of anxiety and anxiety: "Sister-in-law, what are you going to do!"

   Brought him here early in the morning, saying that he was going to show him some treasure-as a result, as soon as his front foot came in, he was **** by her maid Azhu!

  Could it be that his unreliable sister-in-law was bought by the court and wanted to hand him over?

  But if it is so, why bother!

  Although the teenager is still young, he has experienced family destruction within a few months, and the fact that his loved ones have died one after another. He still has the ability to be alert and distinguish situations.

  Even the woman in front of him secretly shot and killed his aunt, Empress Wu, who was hung at the gate of the city a few days ago.

The young woman squatting in front of her spoke with a soothing tone: "I asked A Zhu to dig in secret two years ago. It is the most suitable for refuge, but the Wu family don’t even know this secret way... you Just wait here with peace of mind, Azhu and Qiu will accompany you with enough food and water for two months."

  And two months later, King Yan’s army must have breached Yangzhou City.

  Xu Mingyi stood up.

Seeing that she was leaving, the little boy hurriedly said: "Sister-in-law, why don't you stay here together!"

   "If I stay too, I'm afraid they will find here sooner or later."

  The little boy's eyes tightened suddenly.

  He got it...!

  "You are going out to die, to lead those people away for me!"

  No wonder you have to tie him up!

  He wanted to break free, but he couldn't break free, tears streaming down his eyes.

  Xu Mingyi looked at him with a little disgust: "A face that is not so handsome..." Such a cry in disregard of demeanor and image made the situation worse.

  Wu Ran’s cries became louder.

  She had no choice but to say again: "You should know that I have been ill for many years and have broken the foundation of my body, and it didn’t take long before I could live--"

  I don’t know how to say that, can the child accept it better? She couldn't coax a child at all.

  The gloomy doctor Qiu raised his eyes and glanced at her.

  It really didn’t take long to live.

  If there are no natural or man-made disasters, it will be forty to fifty years.

  Wu Ran was still yelling, and her voice became dumb.

   Xu Mingyi couldn't do anything about it, and stunned the person with a palm.

  Well, it's much quieter.

  Sure enough, she is better at hitting children than coaxing children.

   "Uncle Qiu, when I look back, remember to burn some paper money. Burn more. My family has a large population and there are more places to spend money."

  After saying this, Xu Mingyi left the secret path without looking back.

  Azhu, who was waiting at the entrance of the secret passage, knelt down towards her.

   "Take good care of Wu Ran, and you must personally hand him over to King Yan."

   "Handsome, please!"

  Azhu's voice trembled slightly, Xu Mingyi didn't look at it, and he could hear that she was crying.

  Azhu has been by her side since childhood, and Xu Mingyi heard her cry for the first time in nearly two decades.

Seeing Xu Mingyi raising his foot, A Zhu knelt and approached her direction, and then slammed his head heavily on the blue brick floor, saying: "Madam’s instructions, A Zhu dare not listen, wait for A Zhu to confess you. If the errand is done, I will go to you!"

"good."

  Xu Mingyi didn't say anything to her politely. He didn't stop or look back.

  It was overcast just after noon.

  A group of people quietly surrounded the other courtyard.

Xu Mingyi, who was sitting in the hall, put down the tea bowl, his eyes were cold.

  Sure enough to come fast enough——

  Zhan Yunzhu, who was ordered to trace Wu Ran's whereabouts this time, has never stopped until he achieves his goal.

  Although the secret road is hidden, it cannot withstand repeated and detailed searches. After all, Yangzhou City is still the border of the imperial court.

  May be lucky enough to survive their search, but it is only possible. If she is the only one, even if she is a little scumbag, she can live for one more day.

  It's better to be alive after all.

  The army of King Yan has captured Lingbi and will arrive in Yangzhou within ten days.

  But in this other courtyard, there is another Wu Ran.

  She can't take the only descendant of Wu's family to risk.

  Wu’s family treats her not badly. Even if she sends someone to her daughter-in-law, then she can't live up to this trust.

  What's more, for her, this is also an opportunity that she has been waiting for for a long time——

  She has grudges to avenge.

  Her hatred of blood.

  A swift and neat footstep approached here, and the leader was a man in an indigo robe.

  He is very young, he seems to be only twenty-three or four years old, his brows are light and mild, but Xu Mingyi knows that this is just a false appearance.

  Before he entered the hall, he saw a young woman sitting there with a cold face and full of vitality. The steps were stagnant, and the eyes suddenly shook, full of disbelief.

   "Zhao Zhao...you are still alive, you are really alive!"

  At first he heard about it, but he didn’t dare to believe it!

  Xu Mingyi’s eyes are full of irony and hatred: "Zhan Yunzhu, you killed my Xu family back then——"

"No, Zhaozhao, that's not me." Zhan Yunzhu's lips overflowed with a wry smile, "That was what my father did. By the time I know it, it will be too late...but he has received his due retribution. Three years ago, He is dead, and the capital is only two hundred miles away from Yangzhou. You should have heard of it."

  Xu Mingyi had a bitter cold in his heart.

   Pushed away what he had done completely, and even his father’s death was said so calmly.

   "Zhao Zhao, I know you won't believe me at this time, and I do owe you too much to the Xu family... Don't worry, I will compensate you well in the future and will never make you wronged again."

  Zhan Yunzhu looked at her, her words were gentle and gentle, her eyes were full of sincerity and guilt, but her words were all tempting: "Zhao Zhao, give me Wu Ran, and I will take you back to the capital."

   "Wu Ran? I have never seen it before."

   "Zhao Zhao, since I have found it, you can't deceive me. The Wu family is dead, and Wu Ran is a weak young man, where can he go besides running to you."

  Zhan Yunzhu only stepped into the hall at this time, and ordered his entourage to close the door from the outside.

  Before that, two young women dressed as entourage had searched Xu Mingyi's dagger hidden in his sleeve.

  Zhan Yunzhu standing in front of her just smiled.

   "So Zhaozhao really wanted to kill me."

  But her mind is pure and simple, and she has never hidden it deep enough. Since childhood, he can see through her thoughts at a glance.

   can still guess that he is coming today, this is already very keen. Or maybe it was his subordinate who alerted Wu Ran's guard when he came to inquire last night.

  Xu Mingyi straightened his mouth slightly: "You have to take me with you, and sooner or later I will find a chance to kill you."

  Zhan Yunzhu had not heard this sentence.

He was obviously holding the winning ticket, and he was not eager to ask anything at this time. Instead, he bent slightly, stretched out his hand to support her shoulder, looked at her greedily, and whispered: "Zhao Zhao, haven't seen her in five years...I take it seriously. I miss you very much. Do you know that, although I have everything now, I prefer not to pretend to be other people."

  Xu Mingyi abruptly tossed away his hand, and when he got up, he raised his hand to attack his neck.

  The bracelet on his wrist concealed the sharp thorns, occupying Yunzhu’s hiding place, and there was still a wound on his neck.

"Clear, no more trouble. With your skill, it is impossible to kill me. Since you know that I will come today, this action is just trying to delay Wu Ran's escape. But he can't escape Yangzhou City. Don't waste your efforts. You are the remnant of the Xu and Wu family. Only if I can save you, you should be more obedient."

  He restrained Xu Mingyi's arm, his tone was cold, his patience was diminishing.

"Yes."

  Xu Mingyi suddenly smiled.

  Of course she is to delay time, if not, is it because she is disgusting to listen to him talking nonsense——

  Zhan Yunzhu wanted to say something, but his face suddenly changed.

  If he touched the wound on his neck, he saw that the blood on his fingers was actually black!

   "Zhao Zhao, you—"

  He was no longer able to restrain Xu Mingyi, and backed a few steps in horror.

  He fell to the ground, keenly looking at Xu Mingyi’s wrist bracelet approaching him, and then at the censer burning unknown spices in the corner.

  But it was too late.

  From the moment Xu Mingyi found the dagger in his sleeve, he realized that the woman in front of him was as innocent as ever, so he unconsciously put down most of his guard.

   "You only know that I have learned a lot of punches and kung fu since I was a child, so I am always on guard. But I don't know, I have learned some other skills that can be used to kill people over the years, right?"

  Wu Ran thought she was going to use her own life to lure away Zhanyunzhu.

wrong.

  She was going to kill him.

  "My lord? Do you need your subordinates to go in?" A tentative question came from outside the door.

  Zhan Yunzhu held his throat with both hands, desperately trying to make a sound, while moving hard toward the door.

  Xu Mingyi raised his foot and stepped on his heart, drew his sword from his waist, and dropped the knife in his hand.

  Just as the soldiers were about to break in, the door was kicked open from the inside.

  Unparalleled appearance, a woman with a blood-stained snow-blue dress appeared in the sight of everyone, and she was carrying something in her hand—

  That is their head!

  The soldiers were horrified and furious. Seeing that the head was dropped by the woman unceremoniously down the stone steps, they immediately drew their swords and moved forward.

  The soldiers guarding outside the courtyard also rushed in.

  Xu Mingyi lifted his foot and kicked down the wooden barrel on the side, and the prepared pine oil spread out under his feet.

  She calmly took out the fire fold and threw it on the ground, biting her teeth and hiding the poison, and with a bang, the fire spread.

  She knew she could not escape.

  She was born in the Xu family, and even if she wants to die, she must die with dignity.

  Death in his own hands, there is nothing unwilling to be unwilling.

  Although she was very afraid of fire and pain when she was young, but fortunately, this poison can make people die unconsciously.

  The fire leaped high, the snow-blue figure was slowly swallowed and fell, and drizzle raindrops suddenly fell in the cloudy sky.

  At this time, a group of men in black jumped into the other courtyard and fought with the soldiers who were still immersed in the tragic death of the leader Zhan Yunzhu.

  Without the command of Zhan Yunzhu, the opponent came again fiercely. The soldiers quickly fell into disarray and fled here.

  A vulture flew low in front of the burning house, and it made a cry like a whine. After hovering for a while, he actually tried to rush into the fire.

  The fire started to hurt its wings, it fluttered a few times, but it screamed and slammed into it again.

   "Tenmu!"

The black man led by    frowned and stopped.

  However, the vulture still refuses to give up.

  Xu Mingyi faintly heard a sharp chirping sound.

  Ten days ago, this delicious, lazy, ugly and noisy stupid bird suddenly disappeared. She thought she had found a new master who was more generous and would not come back again...

  If the black-clothed man headed by him checked, he could vaguely see the touch of snow in the fire, and suddenly he lifted his foot and rushed into the fire.

   "You can't be the master!"

  An entourage rushed in immediately.

  The man moved quickly and hugged Xu Mingyi, who was still on fire. The entourage on the side quickly fetched water from the water tank on the side and poured it on the two in time.

"……why you?!"

   "Xu Mingyi, you are still alive!"

  The man clearly saw the appearance of the person in his arms, and the face of Yinglang with drops of water was shocked.

  Xu Mingyi tried to open his eyes, but couldn't open them anyway.

   "Quickly, get cold water again——"

   "Bring people back to the barracks for treatment!"

  The man took off his cloak, wrapped her burned body, and kept instructing his subordinates.

  Xu Mingyi’s consciousness is gradually disappearing.

  She wanted to ask "who are you".

  I also want to know whether King Yan’s army will continue to attack the capital after breaking through Yangzhou City. How will the emperor deal with it? Can King Yan win in the end?

  She privately hoped that King Yan could win.

  But she couldn't wait any longer.

but……

  It seems that there is no need to worry.

  She was such a kind-hearted and honest person in the past. Today, she killed another wicked person. She is also considered a person of virtue. She wants to be able to ascend to heaven out of ten.

  Look again when you arrive in the sky...

  ……

  Half a month later, King Yan's army barely stayed after taking over the city of Yangzhou, and they surrounded the capital at night.

  Because of the tragic death of the Wu family's family, the morale of the Yan army was soaring and angry, and the capital was captured within three days.

  The young man in armor and a team of cavalry was forced into the imperial ban.

  The emperor did not escape.

  To be precise, there was no time to escape. The army of King Yan has been in such a turbulent way, and because the current court is ruthless in politics, more and more followers along the way, can so quickly, regardless of the minister’s advice sent by the court to make peace, just break into the capital like this without any scruples. The emperor didn't expect it beforehand.

  The young man broke into the Hall of Nourishing Hearts, ignoring the shouts of the officials and the inner supervisor, with one hand he lifted the emperor who had fallen ill on the dragon bed, dragged it out, and threw it heavily in front of the imperial steps of the outer hall.

  The stubborn and loyal veteran was full of indignation, and screamed and wailed the young man's ethics and disregarded the royal style.

  "Listen, I will tell you two things. First, I want to sin against myself, and I will confess the mistakes of the Xu family and the Wu family to the world."

  Looking at the bright yellow silk silk and pen and ink left by his side, the emperor trembled all over, and laughed frantically: "Impossible...I can’t write it! It is even more impossible to abdicate the edict...you father and son can only be chaotic officials and thieves!"

   "You can't help you if you don't write."

  The young man sneered, and the inner monitor on the side looked at the knife in front of him, knelt on the ground, shaking and holding up the pen.

   "Second, apologize for yourself."

  The young man threw the sword in his hand in front of the emperor.

  With constant anger and crying all around, the man standing above the imperial steps did not hear him, only looking at the surging sky above the vermilion palace wall.

  As the father said, the cost of going down this road is already too heavy.

  If you know that in the end, you will inevitably be charged with a prosecutor and thief. I don’t know if your grandfather Quanxia knows, will you regret it?

  And Xu Mingyi——

  That day, he should have gone earlier.

  She is only 22 years old, right?

  The autumn wind rustled, a rain fell, and the yellow leaves fell into the soil with the flames of war and blood, and were buried together.

  ……

  (End of this chapter)