0p0 Chapter 233: The bride-grabbing team gathers, and another bad news comes from Qiandong
Chapter 233: The bride-grabbing team gathers, and another bad news comes from Qiandong
The western suburbs of Tianqi City.
The man holding the sword was dressed in black, with a black veil covering his face, revealing a pair of indifferent eyes.
When he said the word "junior sister", Ye Dingzhi immediately realized that this person was Yi Bu's eldest disciple - Luo Qingyang.
"Luo Qingyang? How did Wenjun know I was here?"
Ye Dingzhi was obviously surprised by Luo Qingyang's arrival. He asked with half of his face swollen.
Luo Qingyang took off the black veil, revealing his usual silent and serious face:
"She didn't know you were here. I was the one who found you. Junior Sister only asked me to come and help you if there's any trace of you!"
"You caused such a big commotion at the Qing Palace the night before yesterday that the Shadow Sect's people have been keeping an eye on you for a long time!"
"I even spent a fortune asking someone from Bai Xiao Tang to send you a map, but you seem to have noticed nothing!"
Ye Dingzhi felt embarrassed and took out a map from his pocket:
"It seems that Senior Brother Luo asked Ji Ruofeng to give me this map of the defenses of Tianqi City. Ye Dingzhi would like to thank you!"
Luo Qingyang nodded, then glanced at Wen Yanzhao and Baili Dongjun calmly, and then asked:
"The three of you are all thorns in the eyes of the Beili court and the royal family. Now that you have gathered in Tianqi City, I'm afraid you will turn this capital city upside down!"
Wen Yanzhao spread his hands and said, "What else? Why come and go so politely?"
"If I hadn't come here so hastily, I would have really wanted to take over Tianqi City in one fell swoop. This would have saved my uncle and Grandpa Baili and the others from making another trip!"
Luo Qingyang felt a chill when he heard him say this. Wen Yanzhao, who was originally only half a step away from the divine wandering realm, already had the strength to destroy an entire city, not to mention that he was now in the divine wandering realm, a rare realm in the world.
However, Wen Yanzhao knew very well that it was easy to destroy a city, but it was difficult to control a city, which was far beyond his ability to do alone.
If the poisonous fog he refined were to be spread out by the wind, perhaps within a few days, no one would be able to breathe in Tianqi City.
But doing so would only result in a dead city. A city without people is meaningless; a country without people is even more meaningless!
……
The four of them confirmed with each other that they were all there to grab the bride, so they didn't waste any more time and headed northeast towards Prince Jingyu's Palace.
On the way, Wen Yanzhao asked Luo Qingyang a question that sounded a bit strange - where is the location of the largest official silver treasury and the arsenal where military weapons are stored in Tianqi City.
Luo Qingyang frowned, realizing that things were not simple:
"Wen Yanzhao, why are you asking about this? Are you planning to rebel against the imperial court?"
Wen Yanzhao chewed some Phytolacca sinensis slices and said slowly:
"Why are you talking so harshly? If you can't make it, donate it to someone who can help..."
"What does it mean to defy the imperial court? What does it mean to commit treason? He's allowed to starve hundreds of thousands of people in a city just for the sake of a prince's wedding. Why would he pick osmanthus flowers to pay his taxes?!"
"Can Xiao Chongjing, who is so arrogant as to be jealous of talented people and kill meritorious officials?"
"Luo Qingyang, have you been in the Imperial Palace for so long that your brain has gone awry? You think your Shadow Sect salary will be paid to you on time at the beginning of every month, and you can just walk down the street and buy flatbread and rice?"
"I advise you to go to the suburbs ten miles outside of Tianqi City after you finish snatching the bride. Take a look at how many people are only eating one meal a day to save food and firewood during the winter!"
Wen Yanzhao's words made Luo Qingyang's face flush red and white with shame and anger.
Luo Qingyang hesitated for a long moment, then tried to defend himself: "You're exaggerating a bit. Tianqi City is the capital of a country after all. Even if the people nearby can't be said to be well-fed and well-clothed, they can still have enough to eat. How could they only eat one meal a day?"
Before Wen Yanzhao could speak, Ye Dingzhi responded to his doubts:
"Brother Luo, you may not know that many families in those villages outside the western suburbs may have difficulty even getting a meal!"
"I entered the pass from Yunzhou. The people there could only eat white flour during festivals. Apart from the occasional rabbits and pheasants they could hunt in the mountains, they rarely had access to meat all year round."
After hearing Ye Dingzhi's words, Luo Qingyang finally believed it. He sighed:
"Perhaps it's because I've lived in Tianqi for so long that I'm unfamiliar with worldly affairs, but I never imagined that Beili, the largest country in the world, would have so many poor people..."
Wen Yanzhao snorted coldly, "The greatest nation? Without the soldiers guarding the borders, without the farmers who plow in spring and harvest in autumn, and raise silkworms and reel silk, could Tianqi City's so-called princes, generals, and dignitaries have made it the greatest nation in the world?"
"joke!"
Luo Qingyang looked embarrassed, not knowing how to answer as a guard of Emperor Tai'an.
Baili Dongjun, who was walking beside Ye Dingzhi, remained silent the entire time. It was not because he was born in a marquis's mansion and was used to living a life of luxury, so he felt ashamed.
He just thought about the refugees and individual households he had seen when he traveled north with Nangong Chunshui a few days ago, as well as the dilapidated and ruined scene of Qianyue Town.
When talking about this heavy topic, the four of them gradually fell silent and just continued on their way in silence.
……
Imperial Palace, Zichen Hall.
After being diagnosed and treated by the Imperial Hospital, and with Zhuoqing infusing his meridians with true Qi, Xiao Chongjing's face finally became somewhat rosy.
The grief of losing his son in old age was not enough to completely bring down Xiao Chongjing, who had been emperor for more than ten years.
What made him so angry that he fell ill was the shock and fright that Ye Dingzhi's massacre of Prince Qing's Mansion brought him!
Before this, he had never expected that someone other than Li Changsheng, who could not be measured by mortal force, would threaten his rule.
Now Ye Dingzhi appeared and burned and killed most of the people in Qingwang Mansion overnight, which really surprised Xiao Chongjing.
If a martial artist in Jianghu really wants to kill, no matter if you are a king, a general or a minister, as long as you don’t have a body of steel, your head will fall off with one sword!
Xiao Chongjing was worried that Ye Dingzhi was setting a precedent for all warriors in the world.
As long as you have a grudge against someone in the court, you can sneak into the imperial palace and kill him with your own hands!
What is world justice and Beili law?
As long as your strength allows, sword skills, knife skills, gun skills and fist skills are all methods!
Without further ado, in the Zichen Palace, Xiao Chongjing was lying on his back on the dragon couch, with Zhuoqing waiting on him.
Today is the wedding day of Prince Xiao Ruojin, and as his father, Emperor Xiao Chongjing must of course attend the wedding ceremony.
Xiao Chongjing opened his mouth: "Zhuoqing, help me up and change clothes!"
Zhuo Qing hesitated a bit, "Your Majesty is not feeling well. I think it would be better for you to rest in the palace. Prince Jingyu only married a concubine this time. Your Majesty has given a gift, so even if you can't be there, it won't matter!"
Xiao Chongjing raised his hand and shook it: "No, this is about the marriage between the Shadow Sect and the Royal Family. I must be there. Don't say anything more. Help me up."
Zhuoqing had no choice but to do as he was told. He held Xiao Chongjing's back firmly with one hand and gently helped him up.
The maid brought a golden basin filled with warm water. Xiao Chongjing simply washed his face and looked at himself in the bronze mirror.
"I want to wear that black five-clawed golden dragon robe and the purple gold hair-binding crown that Nan Jue presented as tribute. Zhuoqing... what do you think of me wearing this amber ring?"
"My hair is turning white so fast. I remember it was still jet black at the beginning of autumn... Time is merciless. Zhuoqing, bring me that Liuyun cloak..."
Zhuo Qing methodically completed everything Xiao Chongjing had ordered. Just as he took the Liuyun cloak and prepared to put it on Xiao Chongjing, the eunuch on duty outside the hall reported in a pinched voice:
"Grand Eunuch, Eunuch Jinxin, the eunuch on duty at the Imperial Household Department, has an urgent report for Your Majesty!"
Zhuoqing frowned and thought to himself that something was wrong. After putting the clothes on Xiao Chongjing, he quickly went to respond to the urgent letter from the three golden pheasant tail feathers.
"What's the matter?" Xiao Chongjing asked while looking into the bronze mirror.
Zhuo Qing opened the lacquer seal and read ten lines at a glance:
"Zhuo Luo and his accompanying Jinwu Guards and Imperial Guards, totaling 62 people, have been imprisoned in the Xihou Mansion in Qiandong Town. Baili Luo is rebelling! "
……