Jiangshan (2)

Tang Xixu glanced at Su Wujin with a cold look.

Su Wujin was wearing half a mask, but Tang Xixu still recognized him at a glance.

Su Wujin had heard about the Mo family a long time ago, and when he saw Tang Xixu standing in the court as the Marquis of Dingxi, he couldn't help but worry.

"The envoy may be confused. General Fengying's daughter, Xu Ning, is my wife."

Tang Xixu narrowed his eyes, his pupils were dark and his face was gloomy.

The court was silent and no one spoke.

Yuwen Xin: "Since the envoy has come from afar, it would be better for him to rest for a few days. There is no rush to choose a concubine."

Su Wujin narrowed his eyes. Why didn’t he realize that Yuwen Xin was so resourceful when he was in Xin State?

This year, Xizhou presented many interesting things to Daxin as tribute, including beautiful women from the Western Regions, glass jade cups, and newly brewed wine.

The end of the year is approaching, and this year the envoys from Xizhou came to Daxin to celebrate the New Year with sincerity.

Every five years, when envoys from Western Continent came to pay tribute, a royal hunting trip would be held, and this time was no exception.

In previous years, the people responsible for hunting defense were the Black Armor Guards, but this year His Majesty replaced them with Tang Xixu.

Defense may seem easy, but it's actually a thankless job. If you do it well, there's no reward; if you don't do it well, if a prince or noble gets hurt, you can blame them.

Tang Xixu started to set up the hunting grounds a few days ago. Pei Yuanchi told him one by one which areas needed additional manpower and which areas needed to be fenced off in advance.

Zhao Mingshang and Xu Ning also went together.

The hunting ground was bigger than Xu Ning had imagined. It contained all kinds of wild animals. If it weren't for the outer fence, you wouldn't be able to tell it was a hunting ground from the inside.

This hunting ground has a forest on the left and an artificial sand field on the right to simulate hunting in a sand field. Perhaps hunting in the forest is not exciting enough, hunting in the sand field is more thrilling and exciting.

For example, right now, three hunting dogs with sharp fangs were locked in the cages on the battlefield. They had been hungry for many days, their saliva was half a foot long, and they looked at everyone on the high ground with ferocious eyes.

The people of Xizhou are belligerent, and the yellow sand is their battlefield. Opening artificial sand hunting grounds is also a respect for the people of Xizhou.

"Your Majesty, what's the point of releasing only hunting dogs? We should release wolves!"

The person who spoke was Su Wuxie's subordinate, a burly man with arms thicker than Xu Ning's waist.

Emperor Ganping, sitting on the high throne, remained silent for a while, then gradually put away his smile and his face became gloomy.

Seeing that Emperor Gan Ping didn't say anything, the man stopped talking and glanced at Su Wujin and the other two.

Su Wujin glared at him.

Useless thing.

The warrior retreated and made no more noise.

Su Wuxie was unwilling to suffer such humiliation. He thought that Emperor Gan Ping did not take them seriously at all.

Su Wuxie stepped forward and bowed respectfully, "Your Majesty, there's really no point in just releasing hunting dogs. I've heard that Duke Dingguo is both civil and military, brave and skilled in battle. I dare to challenge him."

What bravery and fighting skills? Mo Tingzhou was declared dead by His Majesty eleven years ago and only recovered recently. The news reached Xizhou so quickly, it was obvious that they were well prepared.

Xu Ning suddenly became nervous, this was aimed at the Mo family.

Mo Tingzhou came out after hearing this, frowned and asked, "How do you want to compete?"

"Let's see who can hunt the most wolves within one incense stick. If I win, I will marry Xu Ning to Xizhou. If you win, you can do whatever you want with me."

Tang Xixu behind Mo Tingzhou raised his eyebrows, and the smile in his eyes disappeared completely.

Mo Tingzhou: "If I win, you will become my Daxin hostage. How do you do it?"

"It's no fun just the two of you competing." Xu Ning stepped forward. "I've heard that the Second Prince is a formidable martial artist, and the warrior next to you isn't any worse either. Let's keep the bet the same. Each country will send three people to compete, and we'll calculate our respective hunt totals. How about that?"

After a long silence, Su Wujin finally spoke and looked at Xu Ning: "Okay."

Xu Ning, Tang Xixu and Mo Tingzhou were involved in the war of Xin State.

"Don't look down on us Xizhou people. We actually sent a woman here. Does Xin country really have no one left? Hahaha." The warrior just now suddenly became arrogant.

"Add me in." Zhao Mingshang changed her clothes and walked over.

Yuwen Xin didn't want Zhao Mingshang to go, but Zhao Mingshang ignored his advice and went anyway.

Su Wuxie's pupils trembled, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He took a deep breath and finally agreed.

At this time, Eunuch Dequan suddenly came in from outside and quietly handed Emperor Ganping a piece of paper.

Emperor Ganping frowned and his expression suddenly changed. He glanced at Tang Xixu, then his eyes swept towards Pei Yuanchi and Hua Xing, and finally whispered something in Li Dequan's ear.

"In that case, let's do it."

Li Dequan sighed and went down.

Today, a strong wind blew, and yellow sand rolled all over the sky, a little of which choked Xu Ning's throat.

"Ahem, ahem, why is the wind so strong today?"

Tang Xixu found a headscarf for Xu Ning and asked her to wear it and cover her mouth.

A chill crept up in the afternoon. Xu Ning pulled his fur-collared cloak closer and couldn't help sneezing.

Several people jumped on their horses and galloped away.

"drive!"

The horse's hooves passed through the sand without leaving any trace, the yellow sand flew up, and the wolf was released and ran wildly on the sand.

In an instant, wolves from all directions surrounded him, each with an arrow on his back. Suddenly, a wolf ran past Xu Ning from a distance, and Xu Ning took aim, drew his bow, and shot it.

“Awoo, awoo!”

The little wolf cried out in pain and rolled around on the sand, with red blood gradually seeping out.

There were not many wolves, only ten in total, and Tang Xixu caught two of them in a short while.

When Tang Xixu was chasing the third one, a black shadow suddenly jumped out of the woods. Xu Ning, who was standing by, saw it and followed Tang Xixu to chase after it.

The men in black were walking towards the exit of the forest farm. There were probably many people attacking them along the way, but every time Xu Ning tried to catch them, they escaped.

No one knew where Zhao Mingshang and Mo Tingzhou had gone. Xu Ning felt uneasy and whipped his horse to follow the assassin.

Soon after leaving the forest, the entrance to the tent was in chaos, with smoke and fire all over the sky, and the tents were scattered all over the place.

"Protect the emperor! Protect the emperor quickly!" Li Dequan shouted urgently with his back bent. Emperor Ganping was protected in the middle, panicking and nervous.

Tang Xixu came in with the assassins, and the assassins ran straight towards the emperor.

"You are such a jerk! His Majesty, considering you are from the Mo family, allowed you to inherit the title. I never thought you would be so ambitious and want to rebel!"

Here, Marquis Nanyang came out to cooperate with Li Dequan, and in a few words he put the blame on Tang Xixu.

A man in black suddenly appeared in front of Emperor Gan Ping from nowhere, holding a sword and about to kill him.

Tang Xixu threw the spear in his hand and stabbed at the man. When the spear was about to hit the man, an arrow flew from a distance and hit the assassin first.

The assassin fell to the ground, and the tip of Liquan's spear pointed at Emperor Ganping's eyebrows.

At the moment when the tip of the gun was only a finger's width away from his eyebrows, Yuwen Xin pounced forward, and the tip of the gun brushed past the robe on Yuwen Xin's back.

The moon-white brocade robe was already torn into pieces.

"All soldiers, listen up! Capture the traitor Tang Xixu alive!" Li Dequan faced everyone, holding the tiger talisman in his hand.

Li Dequan was the confidant of Emperor Gan Ping, and his opinions were the same as those of Emperor Gan Ping.

For a moment, the scene became completely chaotic.

Su Wuxie arrived with a group of people: "Your Majesty, what's going on?"

Emperor Gan Ping had already sat back on the top of the observation deck, looking down at everyone, his eyes as cold as ice.

"The traitor Tangxi Xu is plotting rebellion. Anyone who captures him alive will be rewarded with 100 taels of gold. Anyone who captures his head will be granted the title of king and a palace and a reward of 1,000 taels of gold."

The imperial edict had been issued, and everyone turned into wolves and rushed towards Tang Xixu and Xu Ning.

Most of the troops commanded by Tang Xixu were controlled by Emperor Gan Ping, and only a small part was at his disposal.

"Your Majesty, there must be a misunderstanding here. I hope Your Majesty can understand." Yuwen Xin came out to defend himself.

Zhao Mingshang also looked at Xu Ning and the others nervously.

"Crown Prince." Emperor Gan Ping looked at Yuwen Xin and his wife coldly, "You also want to protect him?"

Yuwen Xin fell silent.

Not only the Black Armored Army but also the Imperial Guards were there, all for the sole purpose of strangling Tang Xixu.

Tang Xixu sneered and looked up at the emperor: "You really put a lot of effort into this, playing this role with me for such a long time."

The Black Armored Army and the Imperial Guards are only a part of it. Fortunately, Tangxi Xu Ning is a martial arts expert, otherwise he would have died a thousand times earlier.

"Don't talk nonsense, traitor. You have been wandering outside for many years, making friends with all kinds of people. You are in charge of Buhuo City and have taken in extremely vicious criminals. You have been sleeping on straw and eating bitter food for many years and have long had a rebellious heart. Your Majesty is just cleaning up the rebels!" Nanyang Marquis Han Jishan rushed to the front, pointing his spear at Tang Xixu.

When Xu Ning saw Han Jishan's beard and fat body, he felt greasy and disgusted when he thought of what he had done.

"What a great way to purge the rebels!" Mo Tingzhou rode over.

Countless soldiers surrounded and fought with Tang Xixu's men.

Su Wujin had heard the noise a long time ago, and he didn't want to get involved in the mess of Xin State, so he and Su Wuxie tactfully avoided it.

He wished Tang Xixu would die, as many things would be much easier to do after he died.

The hunting ground suddenly became a battlefield, with bright red blood mixed with yellow sand and brown soil, and at this time some white snow was floating in the sky.

The scorching sun is blinding, and the sparkling white snow reflects the light.

Xu Ning killed anyone he saw and took their vital points without a trace of warmth in his eyes.

Xu Ning slashed a soldier's neck with his sword, Xilin's scabbard flashed with blood, and Xu Ning's face was splashed with blood.

Most of Tang Xixu's men were killed, only two or three were still fighting.

"Young Marquis, it's because Uncle Chen is incompetent and failed to protect you. I, Chen Yin, feel sorry for the old general!" Chen Yin, a weathered veteran, spoke with snot running down his face.

Several people leaned against each other, their faces already covered in scrapes and abrasions.

Nanyang Hou was unable to defeat Tang Xixu. He thought that Xu Ning, a thin woman, would be easy to defeat, so he jumped up and stabbed Xu Ning. Xu Ning was kicking past a soldier and didn't notice the person behind her.

Xu Ning felt a palm strike on her right shoulder. She cried out in pain and turned around to see that the long sword had pierced Tang Xixu's chest. The young man grasped the long sword and pulled it out against the palm force of Nanyang Hou.

“Cough, cough, cough”

Tang Xixu lost all his strength, and his soul seemed to have been sucked out of his body. For a moment, he felt dizzy and his body was as cold as if he was in an ice cellar.

Xu Ning knelt down to catch the person, watching as Tang Xixu's brows quickly turned white with frost, but he was powerless to do anything.

She became anxious, holding Tang Xixu's face and rubbing the snow between his eyebrows: "Ah Xu, didn't you say that the cold was cured? Why is it like this?"

My nose was blocked for a while, and my deep breath blocked my heart.

"Ah Xu, please don't scare me. I, I beg you."

Xu Ning cried so hard that she couldn't breathe.

Tang Xixu smiled, with blood on the corner of his mouth, but his smile was still so affectionate. He reluctantly raised his hand to wipe away the girl's tears.

"Don't, don't cry."

"I, I may not be able to accompany you any further, please don't blame me."

Xu Ning shook her head desperately. She took a deep breath, her eyes red, and the scene of her mother's tragic death that Guangyu replayed for her before he left flashed through her mind.

Whatever, it’s just death, what’s the big deal.

Since you're going to die anyway, why should you succeed?

I want to fight to the death.

Xu Ning put Tang Xixu down, knelt on one leg, and thrust the Xilin sword into the ground.

His cold eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"You are going too far!"

"My husband is not wrong in the first place. It's the path of this world that is wrong. If that's the case, I will destroy it and start a new one!"

For a moment, sword energy soared into the sky, and yellow sand, soil, branches and leaves, and white snow swirled in the air, turning into air currents that rushed straight towards Emperor Ganping.

"This, this is actually the last move of the Dust-Reaching Sword Immortal Fang Hongzhi, Breaking the Dust." In order to kill Tang Xixu, Emperor Gan Ping also called in many martial artists. The one who spoke just now was the Lord of Yueqiu City.

In a blink of an eye, Emperor Gan Ping was dazzled, as if he saw Fang Hongzhi killing enemies on the battlefield many years ago.

Emperor Gan Ping stood up, feeling a different emotion in his heart.

Is he jealous? He is extremely jealous.

It was obvious that he met Fang Hongzhi first, but she finally chose Ye Yulan, this unknown young man who came out of nowhere.

When Emperor Gan Ping learned that Ye Yulan was still alive, he wanted to cut him into pieces. When he learned Xu Ning's true identity, he also sent people to kill her. But when he saw Xu Ning in Wanfo Temple, he was glad that she was still alive.

Xu Ning looks so much like Fang Hongzhi, even the position of the mole under her right eye is exactly the same.

Xu Ning stabbed Nanyang Hou to death with a sword and looked at the fat old man like garbage.

She leaned close to the Marquis of Nanyang and whispered in his ear, "Your son has wanted to kill you for a long time. Look, he's only a mile away. He's so happy right now, he's hoping you'll be torn to pieces."

Han Jishan stared into the eyes of his own son with wide eyes. Next to Han Li was Liu Han, and both of them had indifferent expressions.

And Handi said silently, go to hell!

Xu Ning kicked the corpse away, drew his sword with his backhand, and raised the Xilin Sword again.

She recalled the internal energy skills her mother taught her. At that time, she asked her mother if there was a name for it. Her mother told Xu Ning to choose one herself.

Now, she thought of it.

There are many mistakes in the world, but the only way is to be reborn. That is, Nirvana.

The sword wind was fierce, reversing the direction of the flying snow, and the snowflakes hit everyone along the sword wind.

The soldiers fell to the ground, their cheeks covered in frost. The red flags on the ground fluttered in the wind, some flying high, others already blown away. Perhaps the sword wind was too strong, even some dead leaves and red plum blossoms flew in from outside.

The remaining soldiers picked up their shields and retreated step by step, not daring to move forward easily.

Xilin turned the tip of his sword, and Xu Ning jumped over the enemy's shoulders and landed on the high platform. He put the sword on Emperor Ganping's neck, lifted Emperor Ganping up, and then dropped it back to its original place.

Emperor Gan Ping was surprisingly light, seemingly just a skeleton. No one knew what kind of elixir of immortality Su Wujin had found for him.

Yuwen Xin came out at this time: "Xu Ning, stop now, or I can spare your life."

"Yuwen Xin, I only have one condition, let us go, otherwise I don't mind killing him."

Xu Ning knew that Yuwen Xin was eager to see Emperor Ping die, but she still wanted to give it a try. She was gambling, gambling that Yuwen Xin loved his reputation, and gambling that there was still a trace of father-son warmth in Yuwen Xin's heart.

Emperor Ganping looked at Yuwen Xin pleadingly. All he wanted now was to survive. As long as Yuwen Xin could save him, he would pass on the throne tomorrow.

"Xin'er, please save me. I can give you anything you want."

Emperor Gan Ping had sunken eye sockets and a black spot on his forehead, which was a very unlucky sign.

Yuwen Xin frowned: "Okay."

"All troops, listen up! Everyone, put away your weapons and step aside. Li Dequan, prepare the carriages."

"No, I want three horses." To avoid them tampering with the carriage, it is better to leave as soon as possible.

Yuwen Xin sent someone to prepare it and send it to the dense forest outside the imperial city. Xu Ning put away his sword, pushed Emperor Gan Ping out, and rode away on horseback.

On the way back to the imperial city, when Emperor Gan Ping got off the carriage, a feather arrow flew in from the dark and hit his right shoulder. Emperor Gan Ping fell to the ground with black blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. He lay on the ground and stretched out his hand, trying to pull the corner of Yuwen Xin's clothes.

"Save me, save me."

"Come here, protect the emperor!"

Yuwen Xin glanced into the darkness, but saw no one.

He looked at the arrow head and smelled it. It had a strange medicinal smell. Judging from the texture of the arrow feathers, it must have come from Xizhou.

Zhao Mingchang walked up and took a look: "Su Wujin can't wait so soon, he still wants to be the king of Xizhou."

Yuwen Xin frowned, "We must not take it lightly. They have a poisonous Gu army. Even with Tang Xixu and Xu Ning, we may not be their match."

Zhao Mingchang raised his eyebrows: "Don't forget, Tang Xixu was also poisoned."