Chapter 105: What does Tan Dasen want to do at Guanyin Temple? Rebellion?

Chapter 105

"Ah? Acting?! This is too... too..." The guard couldn't find the right words to describe it.

Xie Junxing finished for him: "Too outrageous? There have been even more outrageous things, but this is nothing. Haven't we seen enough outrageous and ridiculous things along the way?"

"Indeed... this trip really broadened my horizons!"

Several people were deeply moved.

When Xie Junxing was in the capital, he was a pampered young man. His biggest worry was how to surpass his older brother and impress his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents...

During this trip, he saw starving people, frozen corpses, the evil hearts of the people, and also the strong will of the people.

In the face of life and death, the 'little thoughts' that had troubled him before were not worth mentioning at all.

At home, his parents and grandparents are loving, and his two younger sisters are lively and lovely. His brother is capable and worthy of the title of Young Marquis Xie. He is the right-hand man of His Majesty, and he should be proud of it.

A little envy and jealousy is acceptable, as it is his motivation to improve himself, but it is not worth dwelling on it in his heart.

Brothers are friendly and respectful to each other, which is the blessing of the Xie family.

Sure enough, after seeing the vastness of the world and the separation of life and death, people's hearts will be cleansed and purified, leaving only the loved ones in it, and striving for self-improvement for them.

"It seems that this Tan Dasen is no ordinary person. He actually thought of arranging people to perform a trick in advance to fool us."

"Second Master, what should we do?"

"Let's go look somewhere else. Leave three people to keep an eye on this place. If there is any unusual movement, retreat and report immediately. The three of you must act together. Safety is the top priority." Xie Junxing ordered.

"yes."

"Is Lao Shi back?"

"Second Young Master, I'm here." Lao Shi emerged from the end of the team. "The people who were following us have been dealt with."

"Well, I'm glad you're not alone. Come with us."

"yes."

Xie Junxing and his companions visited three places in succession, where the people arranged by Tan Dasen performed for them.

"Huh... this bastard official is really so good at acting?"

Xie Junxing blew a breath into his palm, his frozen cheeks were pale. He jumped onto a dead tree and looked into the distance. He found that the bonfires in the three places they had seen were very obvious, and there were also obvious flames in other places. Only in a few scattered places, the flames were very weak and the locations were very remote.

He jumped down from the tree and walked in one direction first: "Let's go to the last place. If this is not the place, we will go back."

Everyone followed.

This time Xie Junxing made the right bet.

He followed the direction he had just recorded on the tree and came to a Guanyin Temple.

The temple is huge, old and dilapidated, and very quiet inside.

The small bonfire was used by the night watchmen to keep warm.

Xie Junxing practiced martial arts and had very good eyesight. He could see that the night watchmen were dressed in ordinary clothes, their fingers were rough, and their palms were calloused in the firelight. They should know some martial arts and may have done heavy labor for many years.

Are they ordinary people?

The quilts they wore were old and had patches on the edges, and they ate sweet potatoes dug out from the campfire.

Just as Xie Junxing was about to climb over the tree outside the wall, he heard the door open. Two chubby little children, wrapped up in bundles, squeezed out from a crack in the hall door and ran to the night watchman. One of them leaned against a strong man and said sensibly, "Dad, Second Uncle/Big Uncle, we'll keep an eye on you. Go get some sleep."

"No, go back to sleep." The two brothers on the night watch rubbed the heads of the two little ones, "Be careful that your mother won't be able to find you when she wakes up and gets anxious and angry."

Xie Junxing: He is indeed an ordinary citizen.

The various halls of this Guanyin Temple combined should be able to accommodate tens of thousands of people.

Of course, this is just his guess, and it is an ideal situation.

But there are at least a few thousand people here.

Just as he was thinking about how to show up appropriately so as not to scare the other party and avoid being surrounded, he suddenly heard a little boy who had just come out exclaim in surprise: "Dad, what's flashing in that tree...ah, it looks like there's someone!"

Xie Junxing: “!!!”

The night watchman immediately grabbed his weapon and stood up as if he was facing a great enemy: "Who is it?"

Xie Junxing quickly raised his voice, "I'm the imperial envoy from the capital! Don't do anything."

He waved to Lao Shi and others, asking them not to move, and then he floated down lightly.

The boy who spotted him stared at his goggles with great curiosity.

Xie Junxing took off his goggles, revealing his true face, which was as handsome as an immortal. His cheeks, which were very popular among women in Beijing, were white and clean. One of the night watchmen murmured - could this be a fox spirit transformed into a demon?

Xie Junxing: “…”

He heard it!

"Are you from the capital?"

Xie Junxing: "Exactly. My name is Xie Junxing. I noticed something was amiss in the peacefulness of Yuzhou City, so I came out at night to investigate."

The other party was very cautious: "Isn't it good that the city is peaceful? You will be able to complete your mission quickly, and then you can return to the capital to live your comfortable life right away?"

"Those in the city are all civilians arranged by Tan Dasen, putting on a show for us. It's too fake," Xie Junxing said. "The court sent us here because they care about the people. We won't leave until we're sure all the people are safe."

The other party looked at him for a while, probably because he didn't have the demeanor to deceive people, so he asked, "Are you here alone?"

Xie Junxing: "No. There are seven more brothers." He raised his hand and waved, and the seven guards fell from the wall and gathered behind him.

When the eight of them walked to that station, they exuded a noble and elegant temperament, with a "Beijing style".

The night watchman believed it about 70%.

"Didn't Tan Dasen send anyone to follow you?"

"He followed me, and my people took care of him. Don't worry." Xie Junxing saw that the other party had relaxed, so he tried to ask, "What's your name, brother? How many people are there in this place?"

"Dong Cheng, this is my second brother Dong Yi." Dong Cheng said, "These are Brother Song Tao, the eldest brother Gao Feng, the eldest brother Jiang Fan, the youngest brother Jiang, and the youngest brother Du Zhong."

Xie Junxing clasped his fists and called out to them one by one: "Brother Song, Brother Gao, Brother Jiang, Brother Du..."

He was not arrogant, and the others had a better impression of him.

Two little boys squeezed out from behind the adults and introduced themselves: "My name is Da Hu, and my name is Xiao Hu."

Xie Junxing narrowed his eyes and smiled at them: "Big Tiger, Little Tiger, hello."

Dong Cheng patted them on the back and said, "Excuse me for making fun of you. May I ask how many people did Lord Xie's envoys bring with them?"

Xie Junxing: "What do you mean? Do we have to fight a war with the ruler of a state to solve the problem?"

Dong Cheng: "He killed the magistrate Guo Xu, who had a disagreement with Tan Dasen and was responsible for protecting the people. Captain Fan Haoping was also injured. I'll have to ask Lord Fan for the details."

Xie Junxing: Is the situation in Yuzhou Prefecture really that complicated?!

What does Tan Dasen want to do? Rebellion?

Or do you want to be a local emperor in Yuzhou? !

"Is Lord Fan here?"

"...Yes. Sir Xie, do you dare to come in and see it alone?"

Dong Cheng and the others did not dare to take the risk. Although Xie Junxing was most likely the imperial envoy and could make decisions for them, they were only temporary protectors chosen by Fan Haoping to protect the people. They could not make decisions and had to listen to Lord Fan in everything.

"Of course, take me there." Xie Junxing responded readily.

Lao Shi called him: "Second Young Master..."

"It's okay. You wait here for me."

Dong Cheng turned around and said, "Let's go."

Xie Junxing immediately followed.

During a conflict, Fan Haoping was stabbed in the chest by a sword and was seriously injured. Fortunately, it was winter and the wound was frozen, so he lost less blood than expected and was able to save his life.

Now he is still recuperating in the Guanyin Temple. Some of the soldiers who once followed Fan Haoping were bribed by Tan Dasen, and some were killed. Now only a part of them are left. They all have varying degrees of minor injuries and are accompanying Fan Haoping to recuperate and take care of the people.

Among the people Dong Cheng introduced just now, Gao Feng and Du Zhong are Fan Haoping's subordinates.

However, they were just small soldiers. It was only after an unexpected conflict that they showed up in front of Fan Haoping and took on the responsibility of protecting him.

Dong Cheng, Dong Yi, Song Tao, and Jiang Fan were all citizens of Yuzhou Prefecture. Dong Cheng and Dong Yi worked in the government office as constables, while Song Tao and Jiang Fan used to be city gate guards.

So they more or less know Fan Haoping.

After the conflict, they formed a small group of their own.

When Xie Junxing saw Fan Haoping, Fan Haoping had just woken up.

He was tortured by the pain of his wounds and often couldn't sleep at night.

A few days ago, he did hear that the imperial court had sent imperial envoys to Yuzhou, Qingzhou, and Jizhou to provide disaster relief.

Snow disasters are indeed rare in the north, and Fan Haoping was also shocked by this blizzard that lasted for a month.

Fortunately, the magistrate Guo Xu reported the disaster in Yuzhou to the higher authorities, which led to the arrival of the imperial envoy.

But it is a pity that Lord Guo did not wait for the arrival of the imperial envoy.

Xie Junxing showed Fan Haoping his token, and Fan Haoping also showed his captain's seal. "Tan Dasen has been secretly stockpiling troops since the beginning of the spring. The bandits roaming outside have cooperated with him to strictly block the news from Yuzhou. Therefore, it was really difficult for Lord Guo to report the news, and he really helped us a lot."

Xie Junxing was shocked by the unexpected news: "He really dares?!"

After the shock wore off, he finally understood—the emperor was far away, the land was vast and rich, the plains were open, and the state was powerful. Tan Dasen could indeed be a local emperor, unrestrained and free from anyone's control. It was reasonable for him to harbor such thoughts.

The ruler of a state is very powerful, but after being in power for a long time, he has long forgotten his original intention of being loyal to the emperor and patriotic.

Fan Haoping also learned from Xie Junxing about the process and hardships he went through to find this place.

Suddenly, he panicked and said, "Oh no! Lord Pei and Lord Lin are still at the provincial government office! What if Tan Dasen notices something and strikes first? Wouldn't they be in danger?!"

Xie Junxing: "Don't worry, they have guards around them."

Fan Haoping: "Tan Dasen has the military strength of an entire state under his command!"

Although Xie Junxing was also anxious and worried, he remained rational. "Then he wouldn't take such a risk. Killing the imperial envoy would not benefit him. He would definitely prefer to treat us well and send us off safely. It would be best if we could report to the court in person that everything in Yuzhou is fine. Only then can he rest assured and continue to be his local emperor. Otherwise, he wouldn't have put on such a show for us with so many people."

"But we can't be too optimistic," Fan Haoping said. "If he takes them hostage, then Lord Xie's actions will be hampered."

Xie Junxing: "I understand. With half the city's citizens being held hostage by him, we still have to find a suitable solution. It would be best if we can achieve the best of both worlds. Lord Fan, take good care of your injuries. I may need your help later."

Fan Haoping: "Just give me your orders."