After burying Peng Ning on the outskirts of Hongsha Town, Cheng Sanwu followed the footsteps left by the Maocai Society and turned north, arriving outside Quzhi City in less than three days.
Different from the vast desert filled with yellow sand and the vast Gobi Desert, Quzhi City, located at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, is rich in water and grass. When this place was still under the rule of Qu Zhiguo, the countryside outside the city was already covered with wheat, japonica rice, peaches, apricots and pears, as well as grapes and pomegranates.
It is a rare specialty product of the Central Plains. Its abundance and abundance can be said to be the first in the Western Regions.
Even though the Xia Dynasty annexed the Western Regions, Quzhi City's geographical advantages remained unchanged, and it became the residence of the Protectorate of the four towns in Anxi. The city was densely covered with trading companies, warehouses, wine shops, and music shops, whether it was the splendid costumes that were fashionable in the Central Plains, collections of poems, or preparations.
The popular Orchid dance music and exotic tricks can all be found in Quzhi City.
It can be said that as long as you have money, you can have supreme enjoyment in Quzhi City. In the first two years, Baochang Society even built a ditch from the north of the city, diverted water into the city, and built a soup pool for tourists to bathe.
This kind of thing, let alone in the Western Region, is considered a first-class luxury even in the eyes of the people. No wonder Baochang society is being targeted.
Of course, Cheng Sanwu knew that Baochang Society was hated by his colleagues in Quzhi City. Su Wangting took him in because he wanted to eliminate his opponents. Cheng Sanwu also believed that he had lived up to Su Wangting's expectations.
But now the situation is no better than usual. As soon as Cheng Sanwu entered the city, he found that the shop properties that Baochang Society used to manage had either changed owners or closed down. Shopkeepers who would greet him proactively when they saw him were now being avoided.
I'm afraid I won't make it.
Seeing this situation, Cheng Sanwu had to admit that Baochang Society had already suffered drastic changes, and no matter how good his martial arts skills were, he could not reverse the situation.
Just when Cheng Sanwu noticed that several passers-by were peeping at him, whispering, and turned to leave, apparently to inform Maocai Society, a child suddenly walked next to him, pulling on his sleeve and asking:
"Sir, do you want to buy Tianzhu fragrant medicine?"
Cheng Sanwu saw that it was a Hu kid who spoke not very fluent Chinese. He was about to wave his hands to drive him away, but saw that the boy was persistently grabbing his sleeve and signaling with his eyes.
"I want more, do you have any more here?" Cheng Sanwu understood immediately, led the horse and followed the child into the alley.
Compared with Nancheng, which was newly built after the Great Xia occupation, Quzhibeicheng has mostly old houses, and unlike the streets in Nanchengfang, which are straight and horizontal, the alleys here are twisted and twisted, and are scattered high and low, creating a sinister place that is difficult for outsiders to observe.
It is a place for poor people to live.
Cheng Sanwu was secretly on guard. The barbarian child took him to the end of an alley and opened the curtain. Inside was a downward passage. The horses could not follow it, so Cheng Sanwu had no choice but to venture in.
Not long after walking, they came to a cellar where multiple caves were dug out and the sounds of several people talking could be heard.
"Old Su?" As soon as Cheng Sanwu saw Su Wangting here, he quickly stepped forward and asked, "What happened in Quzhi City?"
Su Wangting did not rush to explain, but gave a Persian silver coin to the Hu child and said to him: "Hide the horse well and don't say much to the outside world."
The barbarian child nodded silently, turned and left without asking any more questions.
Cheng Sanwu couldn't help but take a look and asked: "Is this the hiding place you arranged? Why didn't I know about it before?"
"You can't just talk about everything, right?" Su Wangting looked tired and looked at Sanwu Sanwu. Seeing that his body was covered with dried blood, he sighed: "It seems that you have also met Maocai Society?"
"More than that." Cheng Sanwu curled his lips.
Su Wangting turned around and told the other people in the cave: "You should leave now and make sure to deliver the letter."
Those people stood up to respond and then left one after another.
"Are they Mr. Lu's people?" Cheng Sanwu asked with a frown.
"Don't you usually care about these things?" Su Wangting was not as gentle as usual: "Tell me, how did things go?"
"Looking at me like this, you know it's a mess." Cheng Sanwu sat down and said, "I followed the route and directions you gave me, and when I arrived, there was only one person left in Baimashe."
"Did they encounter horse thieves?" Su Wangting asked: "Did you see any reason?"
"Hu and Han are mixed together, all of them are martial arts in the army." Cheng Sanwu raised his eyes and said: "The remaining one, Peng Ning, told me that they were attacked by horse thieves five times."
Su Wangting stroked his brow, feeling uneasy. Cheng Sanwu continued: "After I rescued Peng Ning, I originally planned to take him to Quzhi City, but he refused to accept it anyway, so I took him along the Hanhai North Trail.
, prepare to go to Yumen Pass."
"This is also a way." Su Wangting shook his head: "But you returned to Quzhi City alone, which means that Peng Ning did not survive."
"What's worse than horse thieves are monsters." Cheng Sanwu was not as happy as usual: "First there was a big corpse vulture, which almost swallowed me up. I finally killed it, and then I ran into it again at night when I arrived at Hongsha Town.
A hag."
"Dominatrix?"
"It's the flying yaksha that has transformed into a human form." Cheng Sanwu waved his hands to indicate, "It's the kind of monster that looks like a fluttering moth."
Su Wangting couldn't laugh or cry: "First of all, the flying yaksha looks like a bat. Secondly, the female yaksha you saw is not the result of ordinary flying yaksha."
"Isn't it the same thing?" Cheng Sanwu didn't understand.
"There are experts in the court who have studied it carefully. In short, just think of it as the difference between a tiger and a civet cat. Although they are similar, they are different after all." Su Wangting sighed: "So, Peng Ning was sucked dry by a dominatrix?"
"No." Cheng Sanwu was a little depressed: "Early the next morning, the people from Maocai Society arrived at Hongsha Town. I originally planned to escape with Peng Ning separately, and I would forcefully break in from the front and lure away the enemy for him. As a result,
Maocai Society was well prepared and allowed me to break out of the city, turn around and shoot Peng Ning into a sieve."
Su Wangting fell into silence. Seeing him like this, Cheng Sanwu said with a little dissatisfaction: "Old Su, you shouldn't hide it from me. Before, you only talked about taking over the White Horse Society, but you didn't mention the Buddha's bone relic at all."
"Buddha's bone relic?" Su Wangting's expression was subtle.
"Peng Ning told me before he died that his real mission this time was to send the Buddha bone relics to Chang'an Internal Affairs Ministry." Cheng Sanwu took out a pass-through customs certificate and a fish talisman from his arms: "This is what I got from
What is found on him must not be regarded as false.”
Su Wangting took it and examined it carefully, his expression became more solemn, and he slowly sat down. Seeing him like this, Cheng Sanwu asked: "What? Something is wrong?"
"You also know that I am working for Mr. Lu, Prime Minister of the DPRK." Su Wangting tapped his fingers on the case beside him: "As for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Eunuch Feng is in charge of it, supervising all the officials of the imperial court and military towns in various places. He is always under the command of His Majesty.
I was ordered to go out and supervise the army."
"Oh, it turns out it's Bei Si. I've heard about it a long time ago." Cheng Sanwu touched his beard: "That's not right. I don't think that Peng Ning is a eunuch."
"Of course there are not only eunuchs who work for the Bei Division, but also many embroidered messengers who are dispatched to various places either openly or covertly." Su Wangting knocked on the case and said: "I'm afraid this Peng Ning is the person who was placed in Baima Society by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I didn't expect it.
In the end, he survived."
"Wait a minute, let me figure it out." Cheng Sanwu felt like he couldn't wrap his head around it: "You mean, Baima Society has been Mr. Lu's property from the beginning, and he came here specifically to escort those Buddha bone relics.
Si's group of eunuchs placed Peng Ning in the Baimashe caravan again...Why do they have to make it so troublesome?"
"If you ask Prime Minister Lu, he will definitely not say that Baima Society is his property." Su Wangting reminded.
"Okay, okay, don't talk nonsense." Cheng Sanwu waved his hands repeatedly: "Now Maocai Society has taken away the Buddha's bone relics. I followed them back to Quzhi City. What do you think we should do now?"
Su Wangting stood up, paced back and forth, and asked, "Do you know the origin of Mr. Wu from Maocai Society?"
"I don't know. I'm probably just like you. I also work for the nobles in the court." Cheng Sanwu said angrily.
Su Wangting smiled bitterly: "I am from a commoner background, how can I compare to the son of an English father-in-law?"
"Who? The British Duke? The British Duke who destroyed the Tocharian Kingdom?" Cheng Sanwu asked in astonishment.
"good."
Cheng Sanwu found it unbelievable: "Does the son of a British prince need to make a living in a Western trading company?"
"The British Duke has more than one son. Now the Master Wu of Maocai Society is just a concubine born to Concubine Ji. He has no chance to inherit the title of Duke of the country, so he is sent to find another way to make a living in the Western Regions." Su Wangting lowered his head and looked at the tips of his boots, feeling quite moved.
Helpless: "The current generals of the four towns are the generals brought by the British Duke. It is not surprising that Master Wu can mobilize troops and horses to work for Maocai Society."
Cheng Sanwu said angrily: "I don't understand, what do they want Buddha bone relics for?"
Su Wangting pondered for a long time, looked at Cheng Sanwu, thought for a moment and then said: "That thing... is not a Buddha bone relic."
Cheng Sanwu's face was so angry that he couldn't speak. Su Wangting said seriously: "Don't mention what I'm going to say to others - what I'm escorting this time is a sport called motorcycle racing."
Mani beads. This object does not come from Buddhism, but is a sacred object of Zoroastrianism. It is said that Mani beads can emit immeasurable light, illuminate the heavens, and ward off all evil. Those who hold Mani beads can be liberated from all suffering..."
"Stop, stop!" Cheng Sanwu stopped him: "Do you think I can understand this?"
Su Wangting was not in a hurry: "Think about it, the Mani Pearl has all kinds of incredible powers. This alone is enough to attract competition from all parties. Moreover, the Mani Pearl is a Zoroastrian sacred object. If this object is dedicated to His Majesty,
, naturally doubly honored.”
Cheng Sanwu was confused: "In this case, wouldn't it be better to just send troops to escort? It's Prime Minister Lu, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the British Duke... why is it so complicated?"
"You have already pointed out the key points." Su Wangting said with a helpless smile: "It is the same Mani Pearl, but it is donated by different people, and the meaning is very different."
Cheng Sanwu hated this from the bottom of his heart and said impatiently: "Since you said that Mani Pearl is a sacred object of Zoroastrianism, what about Zoroastrianism? They are indifferent. There is a Zoroastrian Temple and a Fire Worship Temple in Quzhi City.
"
Su Wangting thought for a moment and then said: "You may not have paid attention, but the imperial court had ordered the ban on Zoroastrianism and the destruction of temples more than ten years ago, at least in Zhongyuan Prefecture."
"Can Zoroastrianism offer Mani beads to the emperor in exchange for lifting the ban?" Cheng Sanwu asked.
Su Wangting couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You, it's better not to bother thinking about these things. Will the Zoroastrian Church obediently abandon its own sacred objects?"
"Then if I were a Zoroastrian believer and knew that the sacred objects passed through the Western Regions, wouldn't it be better to just grab them?" As soon as Cheng Sanwu finished speaking, his expression changed.
"What? Do you think Zoroastrianism is also involved in this matter?" Su Wangting noticed.
"Could the demon I met on the road come from the Zoroastrian sect?" Cheng Sanwu asked: "That big corpse vulture may only be seen once in decades in the Western Regions, and that dominatrix, I just sent her
They forced her back but failed to kill her."
Su Wangting was slightly suspicious: "Zoroastrianism has a way to drive demons? I have never heard of it in the past. I will go find out about it later."
"What's going on with Baochang Society?" Cheng Sanwu turned to ask: "Really let Maocai Society swallow up all the industry?"
"It's not that simple." Su Wangting did not admit defeat: "His Maocai Society just took advantage of the lack of manpower here. Those few people just went to contact Mr. Lu and manpower from other places. I have many ways.
Let Maocaishe spit out what he swallowed."
"I see you have injuries on your face." Cheng Sanwu gestured to his forehead: "Who did it?"
"That's Mr. Wu." Su Wangting stroked his brow: "In terms of martial arts, he is not my opponent, but he is blessed with magic, and the power of my iron palm cannot hurt him."
Cheng Sanwu is one of the few people who has seen Su Wangting's Iron Palm Kungfu. When this kind of martial arts is performed, his palms will really turn into pig iron, and it will be easy to grab rocks and turn them into mud. A blow from the iron palm on a flesh and blood body can cause minor injuries to the muscles and bones.
, or in severe cases, death on the spot. Even if you are lucky enough to survive, the latent energy of the iron palm penetrates into the limbs, bones, internal organs, and will gradually cause pathological changes, making the person's muscles and bones rigid and eventually unable to move.
"Is it the monk's Vajra Body Protection Spell?" Cheng Sanwu was curious.
"It doesn't look like it." Su Wangting recalled: "The strength of the palm melted into nothingness. I have never experienced this kind of situation before."
"Even your Iron Palm Kung Fu can't hurt you, isn't Mr. Wu invulnerable?" Cheng Sanwu was secretly surprised.
"Spells are not omnipotent, and the blessing and protection cannot last long. Once time passes, it will return to normal." Su Wangting put his hands behind his hands and thought.
Cheng Sanwu saw him like this, so he asked: "Are you planning to take down Mr. Wu directly? But he probably has a lot of men."
"At least there are two to three hundred people."
Cheng Sanwu counted on his fingers: "Baochang Society has more people than this, right? If we call them all back..."
"Now that the Western Region is in unrest, the Protectorate will not let people go easily." Su Wangting was a little worried: "This is the reason why Mr. Wu acted like this. Relying on his father's old troops, he wanted to take the opportunity to overthrow the Baochang Society and let Prime Minister Lu
There is no way to interfere in the affairs of the Western Regions."
"This is your big man's trouble." Cheng Sanwu said: "I don't have anything to say. I just want to snatch back those Mani Pearls."
"It's rare to see you take such initiative." Su Wangting was slightly surprised.
"You can't watch Baochang Club, which you have been running for many years, being robbed by a group of bastards, right? I have been working for you for ten years." Cheng Sanwu leaned against the wall and secretly said: "Besides, I have already promised Peng
Ning, I will definitely help him get the Mani Pearl back!"