The ancient city of Ningxia has a long history. The moment you enter the city, you will see the towering pagoda domes and polygonal eaves and columns that can be seen everywhere. They are mainly made of lime and white, majestic and solemn.
Once upon a time, this place was occupied by foreigners, and the Xixia Dynasty established its capital here, leaving a strong mark.
Precisely because this was once the capital of a small foreign country, the streets are wide, the roads are flat, and it is magnificent and impressive.
Of course, Zhang Yanling and others did not have time to appreciate the scenery of this ancient city. The sun was setting, the city was unfamiliar and there were dangers everywhere, so we should not take it lightly. Wandering on the streets was not an option. We had to find a place to stay first.
Zhang Yanling asked Ma Zhanbao in a low voice if there was a secluded inn where he could stay. Ma Zhanbao then led Zhang Yanling and others through the street towards the south of the city. After a while, they entered a place where civilians lived in dilapidated buildings and found a dilapidated restaurant.
Inn.
This inn was where the Ma family and his son often stayed when they came to the city. Because it was dilapidated and secluded, it was inhabited by ordinary people who came to the city to do business. The inn was also extremely simple, with a courtyard in front and back, and the only guest room was a two-story wooden building at the back.
The dark ages are long gone.
The innkeeper did know Ma Zhanbao, and after exchanging pleasantries, the innkeeper arranged three empty guest rooms on the west side of the small building in the backyard for everyone to live in. Two small guest rooms are upstairs, and a large pavilion is downstairs.
Stepping on the creaking black stairs, the musty-smelling wooden building seemed to be crumbling. The bedding in the room was wet and smelly, and the room exuded a suffocating smell. It was unbearable.
But at this time, Zhang Yanling didn't pick and choose anymore. He just settled here temporarily and didn't need to worry about it. So he ordered people to push two carts filled with firewood into the backyard and park them. Zhang Yanling summoned everyone to close the door.
The door arranges the next thing.
"Brothers, we will stay here temporarily tonight. After dinner, everyone will have a good sleep and recover their mental and physical strength. You should talk less and move less. Be careful in everything. We will do things again tomorrow.
"
Everyone nodded and went back to their rooms. Zhang Yanling asked Chen Shiyi and Ma Zhanbao to go to the market to buy some ordinary people's clothes. After all, these people are dirty now, and they are actually a bit different and conspicuous in the city. If you are serious
Upon further investigation, it turns out that the way you dress is actually different from that of the local people. If you want to hide in this city, you have to blend in and disappear into the crowd.
Moreover, you must buy a loose robe so that you can carry the firearm with you without being seen. If you wear short and thin clothes, you can only walk around with bare hands.
At midnight, Zhang Yanling called Chen Shiyi to join him, and the two climbed over the wall and left the inn. Zhang Yanling's idea was to go to the spot with Chen Shiyi in the evening to see the situation of the soldiers and horses defending the city, and to look for Zhang Yanling
The person you want to find.
But when they came to the street, Zhang Yanling immediately gave up the idea of wandering around the street at night. There were no pedestrians on the entire street, and there were no night market shops open. In the dark market, only one line after another could be seen on the street.
At the checkpoint, teams of patrolling soldiers came and went. Under such circumstances, walking around on the streets at night was extremely dangerous. Especially since Zhang Yanling currently had no idea where the person he was looking for lived.
at.
Zhang Yanling decided that there was no need to take risks. Under such circumstances, it would be safer to look for him during the day when there are more people in the city. Ningxia City has 200,000 soldiers and civilians, and the streets are bustling with people. Mixing into the crowd is the safest way.
So the two of them returned to the inn and went back to their room to continue sleeping.
After dawn the next day, Zhang Yanling and Chen Shiyi left the inn. The others were ordered to stay in the inn not to show their faces and wait for orders.
The two of them walked along the street mixed with the crowd. Zhang Yanling was looking for a place called Baishui Lane, which was the residence of Ningxia Weiyuan guerrilla general Qiu Yue that he learned from Shi Yong. Zhang Yanling entered the city.
The first thing he wanted to find was Qiu Yue. According to Shi Yong, this man pretended to surrender to the rebels and pretended to be ill at home. Zhang Yanling needed to find him and seek his help. This would make his plan more effective.
Naturally, the two of them didn't know where Baishui Lane was, so they asked all the way and walked north through the city. But when they walked through a few streets, suddenly, there was a huge commotion on the street.
Horse hooves sounded like heavy rain on the street, and cavalry and running soldiers appeared out of nowhere in the market. The cavalry galloped past, knocking the baskets and tumbling, and everyone was panicked. The streets were suddenly full of chickens and dogs.
, the people fled one after another.
Zhang Yanling and Chen Shiyi crowded among the people on the street to observe what was happening. Then, he saw a large number of soldiers holding horses across the market. As far as he could see, he set up three or four checkpoints to stop them.
After noticing the movement of the people, a strict investigation began.
Zhang Yanling instinctively realized that something might have happened. At this moment, more than a dozen horsemen galloped along the market, and the cavalrymen on the horses shouted loudly.
"Everyone, listen up. Your Majesty has ordered that the whole city is under martial law. Everyone should go home and stay there. They are not allowed to walk in the streets. All violators will be arrested and charged with collaborating with the enemy. No matter what urgent matter you have, you can
Let me go home. In addition, if there are relatives living outside the city at home, they must immediately report it to the government and find out their identity. If you see an unidentified person or someone acting suspiciously, you should report it enthusiastically. Those who hide and fail to report will be severely punished.
punish……"
The cavalrymen trotted along the long street, shouting along the street, and went away.
"What's going on? Master Hou, something happened, right?" Chen Shiyi asked in a low voice in shock.
Zhang Yanling frowned, and he had already realized that something was wrong. With the sudden martial law, a search was going to be carried out in broad daylight. It was obvious that something had happened. Listening to the content of the cavalry's shout, it seemed that they were looking for someone who was acting suspiciously in the city. Zhang Yanling
It feels like this is just for me and others.
This is not overly sensitive. Yesterday when I entered the city and last night was fine, martial law suddenly came into effect in broad daylight. This is definitely not overly sensitive. Could it be that the identities of myself and others were exposed? Or maybe it was the cavalry soldiers hiding in the mountains.
Has it been discovered? Or maybe the war horse armor outside the city has been discovered?
All in all, things have gone wrong. There is no time to think too much at this moment. Zhang Yanling's first thought is to quickly return to the inn and lead his brothers to find a safe hiding place. Otherwise, once someone goes to the inn to search, the inn will be destroyed.
No one inside could escape.
"Let's go back to the inn." Zhang Yanling whispered.
Chen Shi nodded, and the two of them walked back along the street among the panicked people. After walking a few steps, they saw the checkpoints on the street behind checking people. There were also checkpoints on the side streets next to them. The streets in front, back, left and right were all
There are all checkpoints and it is impossible to leave.
If you want to pass the checkpoint, you have to undergo interrogation. If you don't say anything else, if you open your mouth, you will be found to be not from Ningxia City, and you will be arrested immediately.
"We can't leave anymore." Zhang Yanling frowned.
"If it doesn't work, let's force our way through. I'll protect Mr. Hou." Chen Shiyi gritted his teeth and whispered.
Zhang Yanling glared at Chen Shi and said, "Breaking in by force? Wouldn't that be seeking death? We haven't exposed our traces yet. We need to quickly notify the brothers in the inn to hide to avoid being caught. Brother Chen, you are good at climbing over walls and houses.
You hurry back and inform them."
Chen Shiyi said in astonishment: "How can that happen? Of course I can leave, but what about the Marquis? I can't leave you behind."
Zhang Yanling looked around. In front of the roadside was the mountain gate of a huge domed temple. The temple door leading to the steps in front was open. Looking further away, there was a towering stone tower behind the temple. The stone tower was visible to the naked eye.
Half of the top has collapsed, and it should be an abandoned stone tower.
Zhang Yanling said: "There is a temple over there. It looks quite big. I can go in and hide. There is a stone tower behind. I will climb up to the stone tower and hide in a while. It should be fine. There are no soldiers in the temple, and the stone tower is dilapidated.
It looks like a safe place. You go back and hide with your brothers, and when the storm passes, go find me in the stone tower."
Chen Shiyi frowned and shook his head: "No, I can't leave the Marquis behind, absolutely not."
Zhang Yanling stamped his feet and whispered: "This is an order. I am on guard. The brothers in the inn know nothing about it. They are the most dangerous. I can hide anywhere by myself. Besides, I have a firearm on me.
Wouldn’t I be able to protect myself in case of danger?”
Chen Shiyi smacked his lips and said, "No, no, you can't do this in a humble position."
Zhang Yanling was so angry that he suddenly walked towards the checkpoint where the rebel troops were in front. Chen Shi was astonished and caught up a few paces: "What are you going to do, Lord Marquis?"
Zhang Yanling gritted his teeth and said: "It's a death anyway. If you don't listen to my order, after all the brothers in the inn are killed, our whereabouts will be exposed. They will dig deep in the city to find us. We can't escape either."
I'll just go and catch him myself to save myself the trouble."
When Chen Shi heard this, he didn't dare to be stubborn anymore and said in a low voice: "Master Hou, please don't do this. I'll do whatever you want in your humble position. But Master Hou, you must be very careful. I'll arrange it for the brothers and I'll come back to you later."
"Master Marquis, please don't wander around, he is just waiting for you in that stone pagoda."
Zhang Yanling whispered: "Go quickly. What are you waiting for?"
Chen Shiyi had no choice but to slightly cup his hands, turn around and squeeze out of the crowd, and came to a wall about ten feet high beside the street. It was the wall of a house, and there was a big bare tree next to it.
Chen Shiyi looked around, and when no one was paying attention to him, he jumped over the wall quickly and disappeared with his hands and feet. Except for Zhang Yanling, who was looking at him, even the people not far away from him didn't notice him.
Have left over the wall.
Zhang Yanling sighed and looked back. On the street, people were quickly passing through checkpoints and leaving. The crowded crowd had thinned out a lot. Zhang Yanling slowly walked towards the mountain gate of the temple in front of him under the cover of the crowd.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was interested in him, Zhang Yanling slipped along the wall to the blind spot of the soldiers at the checkpoint not far away, and walked quickly to the mountain gate. With only a few breaths, Zhang Yanling was sure to get into the mountain gate, and he had already seen the inside of the door.
Under the cover of the lush flowers and trees in the yard, one can quickly leave the street and move towards the abandoned stone tower deep in the temple.
However, just as Zhang Yanling was walking towards the mountain gate, a group of soldiers from Xianling were walking quickly along the street, their eyes were facing Zhang Yanling's direction, and they could not meet for more than ten steps. Once Zhang Yanling went to the mountain gate, he would be
They can see clearly.
Zhang Yanling hurriedly stopped and turned around, hiding beside a black carriage parked at the entrance of the temple, thinking about countermeasures. At this moment, the group of soldiers on the opposite side had already approached. If Zhang Yanling wanted to return to the crowd, he would be exposed to the other party's sight. It would probably be necessary.
Being questioned. They are already approaching and there is nowhere to hide.
In desperation, Zhang Yanling saw that the carriage door was ajar, so she stretched out her hand to open the carriage door and quickly got in.
There was a coachman sitting on the shaft of the carriage. Because he was across the carriage, he did not see Zhang Yanling. He just felt that the carriage was shaking a little, so he turned his head and wanted to look back. However, he was stopped by the shouts of the soldiers coming from the front.
"Whose carriage is it? Don't you know if the martial law is under martial law? Why don't you leave?"
"Let's go now. My master is from Prince Qing's Mansion. He is offering incense in the temple and will leave soon." The coachman replied.
"The people from Prince Qing's Mansion are not here either. The whole city will be cordoned off and searched in an hour. Leave quickly." The soldier shouted.
"Okay, I'll call them out right now." The coachman jumped off the carriage and trotted towards the temple.
The group of soldiers stood nearby and did not leave. Zhang Yanling could see clearly through the gap in the car window. He could not go out at this moment. The owner of the carriage was about to get on, and he became a turtle in the jar. For a moment, he was sweating all over his body.
In a blink of an eye, I saw that the bottom of the car seat seemed to be empty. I reached out and opened it, and it turned out to be an empty storage place. I didn't care at this moment, so I sneaked in, covered the seat above, and huddled inside without moving.