It is still nearly a hundred miles from Hongshan Pass, which is forty miles south of Shouzhou, to Luzhou City. Even though the horses Su Jin and others rode were well-trained horses, the run lasted nearly three hours.
It was not until the end of the fifth watch that we could vaguely see the tall, dark north gate of Luzhou City.
After running not far from the city, Su Jin and others got off their horses, but the three horses fell to the ground one after another, foaming at the mouth, and could not get up again.
Su Jin was secretly glad that the horse was a human being and managed to run to the spot before falling down. If it died halfway, it would be a waste of time.
"My horse, my horse, thank you for your hard work. I will build a tomb for you to bury you safely later." Su Jin stroked his horse's mane and muttered a few words, then tiptoed towards the city with his two guards.
The sky has gradually turned a fish belly white. In the dim light, you can see that the tall city gate is tightly closed, and you can vaguely see soldiers on patrol at the top of the city, constantly coming and going.
Su Jin's heart tightened and he thought: It's broken! In the past few days during the New Year, the cities in all major state capitals have been open all night to facilitate the people's travel; even in normal times, the city gates are open after half the fifth watch, unlike now
It was so tightly closed and looked heavily guarded; it was very likely that Zhu Shiyong had closed the city gate to search for himself.
Thinking of this, Su Jin's heart suddenly sank to the bottom, and the cold became biting. If it was really what he thought, the people in his family might... Su Jin didn't even dare to think about it.
"Master Su, what should I do?" The two followers also felt that something was wrong and asked Su Jin softly.
Su Jin thought for a while and said: "You must go into the city quickly no matter what. I can't show up. You go up and try your luck. If the city gate can be opened, I will get some mud and blacken my face to sneak in."
One of the attendants nodded and said, "That's fine. I'll give it a try. I'll tell you that I was sent by Shouzhou to deliver the letter."
Su Jin looked at the official attire of the two of them, nodded and said, "You can give it a try."
The man dressed up and swaggered towards the city gate a hundred steps away. Before dawn, the sky was still dark. After approaching twenty or thirty steps, he was spotted on the top of the city. Immediately, someone shouted loudly:
"Who is that? Don't come close."
"Master, I'm going into the city. Please open the city gate. It's time to open the city gate. Why are you keeping the city gate closed?"
"Hurry up and turn around. Today, by the order of the Lord, the whole city of Luzhou Prefecture is strictly prohibited from entering or exiting. Please leave quickly and don't come to disturb me."
"Strict prohibitions? How strict are the prohibitions during the Chinese New Year?"
"Why are you so verbose? If you say no, you won't be allowed in. If you continue to be verbose, the brothers on the tower will treat you to kebabs."
The follower naturally knew what "barbeque kebab" meant, which meant a sharp arrow piercing the heart. He raised his hands and said with a smile: "Brother, I am an official sent by Shouzhou City to deliver a message. Look at my clothes.
, I am also here on official business, could you please be accommodating and let us go into the city?"
The soldiers on the city looked at him for a long time and said: "Brother, it's not the right time to come here. Magistrate Zhu has issued a strict order that no one is allowed to enter the city. The city is searching for important prisoners on death row. If we open the city gate,
If the fugitive is not caught, don't you have to blame me? If you are really here to deliver a message, just wait outside the city. After the handover, brother, I am willing to go to the government office to deliver a message for you.
"If the prefect lets you in, it won't be too late for you to come in again."
The entourage argued and begged for a long time, but the soldiers on the city wall just refused to open the door. In desperation, they had to retreat. When they told Su Jinyi about the situation, the three of them were at a loss and could do nothing.
Su Jin frowned and thought hard. He was determined to break through. How could he think of a way to get into the city without knowing it? Suddenly his eyes lit up and he remembered that part of the Shushan Lake outside the west gate went deep into the city. Maybe he could take a detour to the west of the city.
It is not possible to enter the city by water; although it is a stupid way, it is better than being stuck here with no way to do anything.
After making up his mind, Su Jin and his two relatives walked casually around the city wall to the west. After walking a few miles, they heard a rustling sound in the long grass in the ditch in front of them, and some people hid in the grass in panic.
Su Jin just squatted down and before he had time to hide, he heard Ma Han's voice coming from the grass on the ditch: "Young Master... It's Young Master...!"
Su Jin was stunned and hurried forward, only to see four people from the Changcaoli Dynasty, Mahan, Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, each carrying a large bundle of weeds, walking towards him.
Su Jin was extremely depressed. He thought that these four foodies had come back early and had sneaked into the city, but he didn't expect that up to now, these four guys were still wasting their time in the haystacks outside the city. He was really angry.
, scolded: "You actually have the thought to sleep in the weeds, you really have no time to spare."
Wang Chao and others were smiling playfully and were surprised that Su Jin had arrived so quickly. When they heard Su Jin's words, their smiles disappeared immediately and they said aggrievedly: "Master, where are we sleeping?"
Su Jin pointed to the wild grass in their arms and said, "Isn't this a woven straw curtain for a quilt?"
Ma Han quickly waved his hand and said: "I have misunderstood. In less than an hour after we arrived, when we were ten miles north of the city, all our horses were exhausted. We traveled ten miles to get here, but the city
The door was closed and there was no way to get in, so the four of us together used these weeds to twist ropes to make a rope ladder to climb up the city. Look, we just made it."
As he spoke, he shook off the wild grass in his arms, and it turned out that the grass was rolled tightly together to form a grass ladder.
Su Jin scratched his head and said, "I am worried because I mistakenly blamed the four brothers. Will this thing be possible?"
Zhao Hu said: "Don't worry, I will definitely make it. When I was at the master's gate, the mountain behind the cliff was thousands of feet tall. I made a rope ladder and I could still go up and down freely."
Su Jin said: "Without further delay, let's go and try it quickly."
Chao Chao said: "Master, don't worry, the patrol has passed by for a while. If we wait a little longer for a new group of patrol soldiers to pass by, we will have about half a stick of incense, which should be enough for us to turn over."
The city wall."
Su Jin secretly blamed himself for caring so much that he got into trouble so quickly. Fortunately, Dynasty and the others were experienced elites, otherwise they might have failed in vain.
A few people nestled in the grass and waited quietly. After a while, there was a patrol team of seven or eight people at the top of the city, walking happily past the high city wall and gradually disappearing into the distance. Wang Chao said softly: "Master, we should
It’s moving.”
Su Jin waved his hand, and the seven people jumped out of the grass and rushed towards the base of the city wall. Before they had rushed twenty or thirty steps, everyone was dumbfounded. What lay in front of them was a moat more than two feet wide, with the river and mountain even thinly covered with a layer of moat.
Thin ice.
Su Jin wished he could slap himself in the mouth. How could he have forgotten this? In ancient times, there were wide or narrow moats around the city. He was so stupid that he didn't even deal with these.
"Master, what should I do?" Chao Chao asked.
Su Jin had no expression on his face, stretched out his hand to unbutton his cotton robe, quickly stripped off his clothes, wrapped them up and held them above his head, stretching out his feet to step into the biting ice water.
Everyone secretly admired him. Although the young master seemed to be extremely weak, his decision was absolutely unambiguous. He stepped into the icy water in the cold weather without even frowning. Ordinary strong men were determined not to be able to do this.
Suddenly, Su Jin was in the middle of the river. Everyone quickly followed suit, stripped naked, lifted up their clothes, and swam across the river.
After leaving the water, the north wind blew, and everyone felt as if they were in an ice cellar. Su Jinwu said with green lips: "You must wipe off the water on your body before you can put on dry clothes. Once you put on the clothes, you will be fine."
Everyone hurriedly wiped their bodies with their coats and hurriedly put on their clothes. Footsteps were heard from far away from the top of the city. It was obvious that they had been delayed for too long, and another patrol came.
Su Jin made a gesture, and everyone lay motionless under the city wall. Then someone at the top of the city heard someone say: "Hey, Lao Ge, look at the water in the moat. There are so many blisters. Could it be that there are big fish?"
Su Jin was shocked. A few of them stepped on the mud at the bottom of the moat to cross the river. This turned the river water upside down. Naturally, bubbles bubbled up randomly. Unexpectedly, the patrolmen could see it.
Another voice said: "No way, those are ripples blown by the wind, okay? Are you greedy again and want to eat carp hot pot?"
The man in front laughed and said, "Don't you want to eat it? I heard that Mrs. Sun Er, who is next door to the military camp, cooks hot pot for you to eat every day and night. It seems that you are tired of it."
The other soldiers laughed strangely, and someone echoed: "That hot pot is very warm. It can not only eat and drink, but also warm the birds. You can also take a few sips when you are thirsty. It's so beautiful."
Na Lao Ge said angrily: "You grandsons, if you have the ability, find a mistress. Damn it, if you see that I'm making fun of you, be careful if I turn my back on you, I'll kick you down to the city and beat you to death, you bastard."
.”
Everyone laughed and begged for mercy, and slowly walked by in laughter. Zhang Long was nestled under the wall. When the wind blew, he shivered all over his body, his nose and eyes felt itchy, and he suddenly opened his mouth wide, and he saw an earth-shattering sneeze about to break out.
With quick eyesight and quick hands, Wang Chao pressed his face into the tangled rope ladder, and a muffled sneeze was still clearly audible; Su Jin and others were so frightened that they held their breath and listened; the patrol team in the city was obviously intoxicated in teasing Lao Ge.
In the fun, the laughter gradually faded away without noticing.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. When the patrol went away, Wang Chao slapped Zhang Long in the face and cursed: "I almost ruined something big. The young master can hold on, but you can't hold on; you're such a coward."
Zhang Long was so ashamed that he was dying. Just as he was apologizing, Su Jin waved his hand and said, "Hurry up to the city, it's going to be daybreak."
Hearing this, Wang Chao said nothing, grabbed a rope ladder, stretched it three or four feet long, tied a fist-sized bluestone to one end, raised his arm and turned it around a few times, then let go; there was a whooshing sound, and the stone was carrying the grass.
The rope flew straight to the top of the city and landed on the top of the city wall with a clatter.
Wang Chao took the rope and moved it along the city wall until he moved the rope to the crack between the two crenellations. Then he slowly pulled the rope downwards. After a while, he heard a click and the bluestone was firmly stuck in the crevices.
In the meantime, it became a solid climbing rope.
Zhang Long made up for it, tightened his belt, held the straw rope with both hands, pushed hard, kicked off the city wall with his feet, and reached the top of the city in the blink of an eye.
Everyone cheered and climbed up one after another, then quickly lowered the rope on the other side and fell into the city.
When the patrol passed by again, Su Jin and the other seven people had quickly disappeared into the streets.dd