tkworld #443 - Arrival at the Imperial Household in the Capital (2-in-1 order)
#443 - Arrival at the Imperial Household in the Capital (2-in-1 order)
Zhong Wuye began to advance towards the capital of the Great Yuan Dynasty.
News from distant battlefields kept arriving along the way.
The villages on both sides of the road were deserted, and the once-fertile fields were now overgrown with weeds. The outlines of the dilapidated houses cast mottled shadows in the sunlight, and the air was filled with a scorched smell, as if one could still smell the smoke of war.
The members of the Luli team beside her looked solemn, and their pace gradually slowed down. Once upon a time, they were also peaceful residents of this land, living a peaceful and idyllic life. But the smoke of war quickly engulfed them, forcing them to embark on a long journey of exile. Now returning to their homeland, all the scenes before them filled them with emotion.
"Everyone be careful, there may still be hidden sentries in the village ahead," Zhong Wuye lowered her voice, she was already used to surviving in this environment. The people of the Luli team nodded, picked up branches from the ground as weapons, and moved forward cautiously.
Soon, they stopped at the edge of a village. From here, they could already see gray smoke rising in the distance, and faint explosions could be heard from time to time.
Zhong Wuye frowned, she realized they were approaching a front-line position. Everyone tacitly hid behind a ruined wall and began to discuss their next actions.
At this moment, two middle-aged men dressed as ragged villagers walked towards them.
One of them pointed to the smoke in the distance and said, "That's the Julu Wilderness. I heard that the Great Yuan army and the Northern Zhou army have been fighting there for more than ten days, and both sides have suffered heavy casualties."
"That's right, I don't know who will win in the end. But even if the Great Yuan wins, I'm afraid the court will be finished," another person said angrily, "This time, we were forced by the Northern Zhou to sign a treaty of surrender, paying them several million taels of silver every year, and also agreeing to that hateful marriage alliance. I think the Great Yuan court is doomed!"
"You have to be careful with what you say, in case the Imperial Guards are watching," the other person quickly tugged at his companion's sleeve.
"Hmph, I don't care," the man straightened his collar, his voice full of resentment, "First we were defeated by the Northern Zhou, and then we had to agree to those harsh conditions that desecrate our ancestors. I think those dignitaries in the court have long been corrupt and hopeless, and they don't care about the lives of the people at all."
"That's right, I heard that the court is also divided into two factions. The war faction wants to take advantage of the Northern Zhou's exhaustion to find an opportunity to counterattack, and the appeasement faction wants to take the opportunity to seek peace. That Grand Tutor Ouyang, seems to be the leader of the latter."
The two men muttered as they quickened their pace and soon walked away. Zhong Wuye and the others looked at each other in silence for a moment. Ding Quan finally broke the silence: "If the situation is really so serious, Grand Tutor Ouyang may really be of little help."
"But we can only bet on this last hope," Zhong Wuye sighed, her eyes full of perseverance.
Everyone nodded and set off again. Their future was like being surrounded by thick fog, with no way to determine what kind of opportunities and obstacles they would encounter. The only thing they could do was move forward step by step and find that last ray of dawn.
……
The streets of the capital were bustling with people coming and going. Zhong Wuye couldn't help but slow down her pace, the surrounding scenery made her feel a little dizzy.
There were all kinds of shops lining the streets, decorated with lanterns and colored banners. Merchants were either shouting loudly or displaying various strange props to attract tourists.
Along the street were mansions with carved beams and painted pillars. Beyond the courtyard walls, one could vaguely see well-trimmed trees and carefully arranged gardens. The prosperity of the Great Yuan capital was as fascinating as described in historical records.
The members of the Luli team followed behind Zhong Wuye, looking around with curious expressions. In this crowded city, they were dressed in simple cloth clothes, which seemed a little out of place.
However, soon, several burly men inadvertently bumped into the passers-by with their shoulders, opening a path for the team. This instinctive reaction to living in the vast sea of people quickly returned to their minds.
Zhong Wuye took out a crumpled piece of paper with a scribbled address on it.
This was the destination pointed to by the clue left by Taishi Bo - the residence of Grand Tutor Ouyang. She looked in the direction indicated on the paper and saw a magnificent palace standing tall in the distance, solemn and majestic, with an extraordinary momentum.
At this moment, Zhong Wuye's eyes caught a glimpse of a dirty notice posted on a street corner. She walked over slowly and took a closer look, only to see that it was a wanted warrant with a portrait of her!
It seemed that since the last time she set the fire at the Jianjia Pass camp, her identity had been exposed and she had become a wanted criminal of the court.
Zhong Wuye took a deep breath, carefully tore the wanted warrant from the wall, and stuffed it into her arms. The next action would be even more difficult. In order not to attract too much attention, she let the members of the Luli team scatter in the nearby streets, secretly following her from a distance, while waiting for an opportunity to respond. She herself decided to go to Grand Tutor Ouyang's mansion alone, hoping to explore the truth of this elder of the dynasty.
Zhong Wuye pulled up her cloak, wrapping herself tightly, and began to dodge and weave through the streets. From time to time, she passed through a small alley, hid in a small courtyard to breathe, and then quietly transferred to another street.
Even in such a prosperous city, the vigilance and caution honed after several life-and-death battles never left her body and mind. It would be a miracle if someone could recognize her face from among tens of thousands of people.
After an unknown period of careful detours, Zhong Wuye finally saw the main entrance of the Grand Tutor's Mansion. The tall red walls shone brightly in the sunlight, as if emitting an aura of majesty. Several guards in brocade clothes stood solemnly on both sides of the city gate, looking straight ahead.
……
Zhong Wuye carefully walked through the streets near the Grand Tutor's Mansion, looking back from time to time to see if anyone was following her. At this moment, a familiar figure emerged from the alley, almost bumping into her.
"Brother Qin?" Zhong Wuye opened her eyes in surprise, it was Qin Huan, a member of the Golden Cicada Thieves who had given her a reminder at Jianjia Pass that day. She saw that he looked flustered, his face flushed, as if he had encountered some trouble.
"Miss Zhong, what a coincidence," Qin Huan looked around and lowered his voice, "I'm in a bit of trouble and need your help." As he spoke, he winked at Zhong Wuye behind her.
Zhong Wuye turned her head and saw a team of eunuch guards in yellow jackets running and supporting each other on the street. The leader seemed to have noticed something and suddenly looked over here. Zhong Wuye was shocked and subconsciously wrapped her cloak tighter.
"What... what did you do?" Zhong Wuye lowered her voice and asked the question in her heart. A trace of embarrassment flashed across Qin Huan's expression, but he still confessed, "Our gang recently stole an important secret letter from the Grand Tutor's Mansion, but unfortunately our traces were exposed during the operation and we are now being hunted down by them."
Zhong Wuye frowned, she was already a fugitive wanted by the court, and now she had to associate with thieves, which really made her feel a little hesitant.
But she immediately thought that if the secret letter was really as Qin Huan said, it might hide some secrets about the Jianjia Pass camp. What's more, Qin Huan had also helped her at a critical moment. So, she gritted her teeth and nodded to Qin Huan.
Seeing this, Qin Huan quickly said, "Then let's go around from the alley behind, as long as we pass through a residential area nearby, we can reach the Golden Cicada Gang's lair. But..." He paused, smiled wryly and pointed to the hilt of the sword that was faintly visible under Zhong Wuye's cloak,
"I'm afraid that with the martial arts of the two of us alone, it will be difficult to deal with the guards we may encounter along the way."
Zhong Wuye understood and winked at Qin Huan. She saw Qin Huan quickly take out a piece of cloth embroidered with strange patterns from his arms and wrap it around the hilt of Zhong Wuye's sword several times. Zhong Wuye took a closer look and saw that the surface of the cloth faintly glowed with a faint blue light. Her heart moved, could this be the power of Luli?
"Okay, from now on you can use the power of Luli to influence reality," Qin Huan explained to her in a low voice, "You only need to move your mind to control the surrounding environment to produce various changes. But this ability is limited in time, and it will automatically解除 when the energy of the cloth is exhausted. You have to hurry up."
At this moment, the sensor tied to Zhong Wuye's body began to emit a light blue light. "Luli power activated, please operate the somatosensory joystick in the somatosensory cabin to control it," the system prompt sounded in her ears.
"Everyone, watch my operation!"
G Jiang took off the VR helmet and stood in the center of the somatosensory cabin. The surrounding large screens fully displayed the street scene of Chang'an City, and the ground also projected three-dimensional scene images.
G Jiang took a deep breath and held the palm-sized somatosensory joystick, and a translucent giant hand shadow immediately appeared in her hand. She waved the joystick, and the giant hand shadow also waved in the virtual Chang'an city street scene, as if with some magical power.
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First, G Jiang let the giant hand block the exit of the alley, and piled up a pile of debris and wooden boxes in the middle of the road to form a roadblock. The guards stopped in an uproar when they saw this, and began to cautiously approach the obstacle, looking for the truth.
G Jiang took the opportunity to knock down a heavy wooden beam on the roof of a house behind, and let it cross between the two houses, creating a new roadblock in the alley.
Soon, the guards were completely trapped in the alley by these two roadblocks, and could only detour to find other exits.
G Jiang's virtual perspective switched to the corner of another nearby street. Through the temporary cover, she watched the trapped guards shuttle through the streets. They gradually fell into a residential area, and G Jiang took the opportunity to move the roadblocks on the street, guiding them step by step away from Zhong Wuye and Qin Huan.
Under the deliberate creation of several covers, Zhong Wuye and Qin Huan soon successfully arrived at the Golden Cicada Thieves' lair.
G Jiang breathed a sigh of relief, her arm was already sore from continuously operating the giant hand shadow. But she soon discovered that the duration of the Luli power was only half an hour, and the shadow began to dim gradually. In the end, G Jiang had to rely on the direction control and special instructions of the joystick in her hand, swaying left and right to avoid the last few guards, and finally sent Zhong Wuye into the door of the lair.
Soon, they arrived at a dark and dilapidated inner courtyard, and a thief gang emblem with a golden cicada pattern was hanging on the corner of the wall. Qin Huan shouted a password, and the doors of the inner courtyard opened, and several men with obscene beards crowded around and welcomed the two in.
Zhong Wuye was finally able to catch her breath, looking at the old and stained house in the courtyard, she couldn't help but feel a trace of unease in her heart.
……
The narrow alley was flanked by high gray walls, and a few rays of moonlight leaking through the cracks in the roof revealed blurred figures in the puddles of water on the ground.
Zhong Wuye followed closely behind Qin Huan, carefully passing through the corners, avoiding making too much noise. Finally, they came to a hidden and secluded place, and a heavy wooden door stood in front of them.
Qin Huan gently knocked on the door, then put one eye to the crack in the door and peered inside. Soon, the door was opened a crack from the inside, and a pair of narrow eyes stared at the two in the darkness. Qin Huan said a few words in a low and dry voice, and the man nodded and opened the door completely.
Inside was a messy and dilapidated patio, with some simple tables, chairs and benches, and debris and hay scattered on the ground. A kerosene lamp was burning in the center, and several figures were curled up sitting there under the lamp.
Zhong Wuye took a closer look and couldn't help but be shocked - those were the members of the Golden Cicada Thieves who were captured during the attack on Jianjia Pass! It seemed that this was their contact point.
A burly man in a yellow jacket saw Qin Huan come in and immediately stood up, saying anxiously, "Brother Qin is finally back! We've been waiting for your order." Qin Huan nodded, took out a letter stained with dirt from his arms, and opened it to show everyone under the lamp.
The letter was written in code with rows of scribbled sentences, which described a conspiracy by the current Grand Tutor Ouyang Huang - it turned out that the batch of military supplies that was attacked at the Jianjia Pass camp that year was actually secretly allocated by Ouyang Huang, in order to ambush the marriage envoy who was on his way to Northern Zhou! Ouyang Huang's move was undoubtedly to borrow a knife to kill, provoking the conflict between the two countries, in order to prepare for his future seizure of power.
Seeing these shocking contents, the thieves present showed angry expressions. And Zhong Wuye recalled the strange scenes she witnessed at the camp, and suspected that there was an internal traitor, which now seemed to be just the tip of a huge conspiracy iceberg! She couldn't help but feel cold all over, secretly grateful that she could escape that disaster.
At this moment, Qin Huan stroked his thin beard and slowly said, "Brothers and sisters, today we have a coincidence, suffering this disaster, is actually because there is another black hand behind us. This thief Ouyang, only seeks to take advantage of the chaos to seize power and cause chaos, and does not care about the court's marriage plan, ignoring the innocent people, it is really worthy of诛九族!"
Speaking of this, he suddenly turned to Zhong Wuye, his face straightened, and his expression became much more solemn: "Miss Zhong, I can now reveal the truth of my identity. I am actually a spy personally dispatched by Grand Chancellor Sima Ru, responsible for investigating Ouyang Huang's greedy scandals, and this adventure is precisely for this. I suspected that there was an internal traitor in the strange attack on the camp."
Seeing the astonished expression on Zhong Wuye's face, Qin Huan smiled gently and continued, "Fortunately, Miss Zhong helped me escape the crisis; otherwise, I would have lost everything, including my life. Now that we have grasped Ouyang's villainous ambitions, we should take the opportunity to completely destroy this conspiracy. Naturally, my Sima family will not be stingy in repaying our benefactor, and I hope that the young lady will also contribute to this matter."
Hearing this, Zhong Wuye couldn't help but feel a warmth in her heart. She remembered that she had also mistakenly entered Jianjia Pass for a public case, and now she has actually met with a court official here, which is truly a destined encounter. Immediately, she took a deep breath and solemnly nodded in agreement: "Alright! I will definitely do my best to help, and I will surely eradicate this disaster from the city!"