Chapter 308: The Law God sent an ambush, the Empress’s arrangement
The princess left as quietly as she came.
Taicang Prefecture was busy dealing with the follow-up of the case and had no time to say goodbye.
On that day, with the assistance of two hundred cavalrymen, Prefect Sun stabilized the situation and came to Zhao Duan in the evening to discuss the follow-up.
The next day, the weather cleared up, and Zhao Duan got up again and returned under the complicated gazes of local officials.
When we came here, we had four carriages, and when we returned to Beijing, it was still the same.
However, the princess was gone, and instead there were two prison cars holding the former governor Gao Lian and the county magistrate Wang Chusheng.
“Da da…”
At the city gate, he watched the imperial envoy's team leave Taicang Prefecture under the escort of cavalry and return north towards the capital.
Officials led by Sun Xiaozhun breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
"I don't know what the emperor's punishment will be."
Liu Ancha, who had not yet been reinstated, was frowning, fearing that the empress would be furious and issue an order to punish him for negligence.
Sun Xiaojun, who had turned a disaster into a blessing and performed meritorious service, at worst had his merits and demerits offset each other, snorted and said:
"Lord Liu is already old. If I were you, I would write a memorial to His Majesty and resign early, so as to avoid losing my dignity in my later years."
Resign?... Liu Ji pulled his beard and thought silently.
Sun Xiaozhun was too lazy to pay attention to him. On that autumn morning, he just rolled up his sleeves and watched the convoy go away, his eyes filled with worry:
Will Gao Lian be able to successfully convict the criminals when he goes to the capital this time?
"Back to the city."
Magistrate Sun shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He turned around and walked into the towering doorway.
…
…
In the south, on the official road.
The princess and her entourage have already left Taicang Prefecture. Going forward is the smooth road leading to the Huai River.
"Gee." Lu Qingfeng, dressed in a plain robe, acted as the coachman himself, and the carriage shook slightly.
The maid Lu Shui folded her arms, leaned her little head against a corner of the carriage, and dozed off drowsily.
Xu Junling couldn't sleep anyway, thinking:
"By now, the Zhao family should be leaving."
I have been away from home for a long time and have seen a lot in Beijing. Then I stayed in Taicang Prefecture and gained a lot, most of which were related to my sister's rumored boyfriend.
"When I go back and tell my father and brother, I'm afraid my father will waver again."
Shaking his head, Xu Junling put aside all the complicated thoughts.
I opened the bag of books and wanted to read something to relieve my boredom, but for some unknown reason I picked up the "Taicang Geography".
“…How can you give this to someone as a gift…”
Xu Junling couldn't help but complain twice, but he still opened it and was stunned.
I saw a piece of paper hidden in the gap between the pages.
Xu Junling used his slender fingertips to pick up the white paper with ink writing on it, and was stunned. It turned out to be a poem.
Was it the poetry that guy wrote? So, the book gift was fake, and the poem was the real farewell gift?
The princess, who thought her poetic talent was no less than that of contemporary literati, sat up straight, lowered her eyes and read silently.
"Mountain Travel"
The stone path slopes up the cold mountain in the distance, and there are houses in the depths of the white clouds.
We stopped the car to make love in the maple forest at dusk, the frosted leaves were redder than the flowers in February.
The carriage rumbled along the official road. Outside the window were layers of distant mountains. The mist of the autumn morning lingered on the mountains. Faintly visible were the stone paths on the mountains, winding their way up into the clouds.
As the autumn wind blows, red maples all over the mountains fall like heavy rain. Stop your carriage to do... eh?
Xu Junling's fingers holding the poem trembled, and doubt flashed in his eyes:
“Is this word spelled wrong…”
Then she realized what he meant and her cheeks suddenly turned red.
"Princess?" The maid Lu Shui rubbed her sleepy eyes, looking puzzled.
Xu Junling crumpled the paper into a ball and gnashed his teeth:
"I'll tell my sister later..."
…
…
Anyone who travels frequently knows this.
For the same journey, the perception of time is very different when going there and when returning.
When I left Beijing, I looked at the mountains and rivers along the way and felt that the pace was slow.
When returning to Beijing, it was much faster.
Without the princess's chat and jokes, Zhao Du'an felt bored. He stayed at home in the caravan every day and spent most of his time on breathing and meditation.
"...Being on a business trip has indeed delayed my cultivation. I'll have to make up for the missed lessons after I return..."
"Strange! I've been promoted to the Divine Chapter for a while now, but I still can't see what's in the second Nine Chapters Diagram... As expected, the higher the realm, the harder it is to practice..."
"Phew, keep a calm mind. When it comes to important things in life, don't rush for success. Instead, plan for three years, five years, ten years... This is the correct mindset and approach to doing things. As the saying goes, if you want to harvest a tree ten years from now, plant it now..."
"Oh, I miss another day of dual cultivation... Zhenbao, I don't want to work hard anymore..."
Inside the car.
Zhao Duan let out a long breath, ended his meditation for the day, rubbed his face, it was clear that he had not been away from the capital for long, but he wanted to go back.
Really...
"Sir, something is wrong!" Suddenly, Qian Kerou's voice sounded a little anxiously from outside the car curtain.
At the same time, the carriage began to slow down and there was a commotion outside.
Zhao Duan collected his thoughts, lifted the carriage curtain with his scabbard, and half of his body slipped out:
"What's wrong……"
He was stunned when he was halfway through his words.
In the wilderness, between the sky and the earth, a thick fog suddenly rose!
No one knew where the fog came from. It was just visible at first, but after a few breaths, it became visibly thicker.
The convoy was originally traveling on a long official road, but in a short while, it was engulfed in thick fog from all sides.
The field of vision shrinks rapidly.
"Sigh..."
All around the team, the escorting war horses stamped their hooves restlessly and made low neighing sounds, as if they were restless.
"Alert! Form a circle!"
The flag-bearing deputy general Yuan Xingjun shouted loudly, and while on his horse, he had already drawn his sword from its sheath, pointed at the sky, and gave orders loudly.
A group of fierce soldiers in the army quickly surrounded several vehicles in the team, dismounted, drew their swords, vigilantly formed a defensive formation, and stared at the swirling white fog around them.
Gao Lian was also awakened in the prison car.
He looked around in confusion, his shackles rattling. He seemed quite surprised.
"Master Zhao, something's wrong. How could there be such thick fog at this hour?"
Censor Chen Hong came over with a serious expression.
The Hou Ren grabbed the knife handle fiercely, and the troublemaker was facing a great enemy:
"Magic! This is definitely not a normal celestial phenomenon, only magic can do this!"
Zhao Duan jumped out of the car, his heart sinking when he heard this:
"Are you saying there's a sorcerer hiding nearby? Can you tell where he came from?"
Chen Juan also drew his sword with a "swoosh" sound, turned his back to them, looked outside vigilantly, and said quickly:
"The magic in the world is complex and it's impossible to be sure, but being able to create a thick fog in the suburbs so quickly, there are similar records in the government office. In the case in the file, it was also like today!
The caster is a magician from the 'Fashen Sect' nicknamed 'Mist Ghost'. He holds a magic wand that can cast a fog of war, and is said to worship the god 'Mist Lord'..."
Qian Kerou's expression changed slightly:
"I've also read that file. It's said that the fog spread by the fog ghosts sent by the God of Law is like a maze. Once you're trapped in it, you can only stay where you are and avoid splitting up to find a way out. Otherwise, you'll fall into 'cognitive impairment' and lose your way.
However, it is said that the Fog Ghost is not good at killing, but only at trapping the enemy. Therefore, every time it attacks, it is accompanied by another magician from the Fashen faction. This magician can control the vine armor people and is extremely difficult to deal with! "
The Fashen Sect?
The largest group of sorcerers in the world?
Zhao Duan frowned, his hand already holding the Frost Sword at his waist, his mind quickly analyzing, guessing whether the other party was coming for him or Gao Lian.
To support the society? Or the Eight Princes? Or some aristocratic family?
“Rustle…”
Before they could think about it, a rustling sound suddenly rang in their ears, accompanied by a cry of surprise:
"Vines! There are vines coming from the fog!"
Zhao Duan looked carefully and saw that with the convoy as the center, in the fog in all directions, countless vines were spreading on the ground like a tide.
Then, one blurry human-shaped shadow after another gradually emerged from the fog.
There were more than ten of them, coming from different directions.
When their true appearance was revealed, people couldn't help but gasp. They were actually "weird people" covered in vine armor.
He holds a sword in his hand and is a lot bigger than an ordinary person.
"People in vine armor! They are sent by the God of Law to kill us!" Chen Juan exclaimed.
I knew... that a trip out of Beijing wouldn't be safe... Why did these people wait until I returned before showing up?
Did I just make it here, or was it because I had guards from the palace with me before?
Zhao Duan took a deep breath, his wrists lightly covered with frost, and was about to give the order to meet the enemy.
However, at the moment when it was about to happen.
Suddenly, all the people in vine armor stopped and stood still at the same time.
Then there was a sharp, angry sound mixed with fear.
Immediately, in the astonished eyes of everyone, the vine-armored men who were about to launch an attack turned around at the same time and quickly disappeared into the fog.
The vines that were spreading on the ground like a tide also shrank and retreated quickly.
"What's going on?"
Censor Chen Hong, timidly hiding in the carriage, now popped his head out and asked, "Does the file record what kind of attack method this was?"
Chen Juan's expression froze and he shook his head, indicating that there was no record.
Qian Kerou analyzed:
"Are they trying to lure the enemy deeper into our territory? They're trying to trick us into pursuing them and investigating their situation, so we can divide and conquer them. Don't forget, if we get stuck in this fog, we'll lose our way back!"
Hmm, that silly little secretary reacted pretty quickly at the critical moment... Zhao Duan, being at the Divine Chapter realm, had a keen sense and clearly noticed the hostility disappearing rapidly...
"Don't chase, wait a moment."
He said in a deep voice that between taking risk and being cautious, he chose to hide.
…
…
at the same time.
In the fog, about a mile away from the convoy, in a valley.
A skinny old man wrapped in a wild Taoist robe sat cross-legged with his hands suspended in front of him, and thin threads of green smoke hung between his fingers.
Each line is connected to a palm-sized rattan armor man on the ground.
At this moment, the old Taoist priest's eyes were filled with fear, feeling the vague murderous intent all around him. He frantically controlled the vine armor man to return to defense and rushed towards him from a distance.
"Crunch." However, the next second, a crisp sound of trampling vines sounded behind the old Taoist.
Immediately, without waiting for his reaction, a hand gently pressed on the head of the killer from the God of Law faction.
The old Taoist's head instantly exploded, red and white splattered out, and he fell straight down in the valley. The lush green vines covering the ground with him as the center withered instantly.
The many men in rattan armor who were running back to defend suddenly froze, lost their lives, and turned into wind and sand.
"Humph, a bunch of trash, how dare you be so presumptuous."
The owner of the hand sneered and slowly withdrew it.
He was a mysterious man wearing a cloak, with a slightly hunched figure and a black hood covering his head.
At this moment, the mysterious man slowly adjusted his hood, revealing a face full of wrinkles, but with eyes as clear as a child's.
Eunuch Hai glanced towards Zhao Duan through the thick fog and muttered:
"Your Majesty has calculated it correctly."
Immediately, the old eunuch in the python robe turned around, squinted his eyes, judged the direction with the help of his warrior perception, and slowly took a step forward:
"Haha, don't even think about escaping."
(End of this chapter)
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