Cangzhou is located in the south of Chu State. Although it is not a wealthy state capital, it has had good weather year after year. There have been no major disasters. The people live and work in peace and contentment and their lives are not bad.
Of course, that was Cangzhou in the past. Now that the King of Zhou is rebelling in Cangzhou, the imperial court is about to send a large army to encircle and suppress them. The entire Cangzhou area will become a battlefield for fighting.
When chaos broke out in Cangzhou, some mountain bandits and bandits took advantage of the situation, robbed the people and made a lot of ill-gotten wealth.
In order to avoid disaster, the people outside Cangzhou City had dispersed in all directions a few days ago. Some fled to Kyoto. Some families had big businesses and could only temporarily flee to the city to find a place to stay.
Although the King of Zhou rebelled, he also claimed to be the master of justice and would not embarrass the people. In a short period of time, a large number of people gathered in Cangzhou City.
The common people only hoped that the imperial court would quickly regain Cangzhou so that peace could be restored to the world.
Outside Cangzhou City, refugees were everywhere, and on the official road, long queues of carriages and horses entered the city from time to time. At the city gate, there were also soldiers conducting strict checks on their identities.
A caravan of only a dozen people was lining up at the rear, waiting to enter the city.
The leader of the caravan was a middle-aged man. He looked at the Cangzhou City Gate, breathed a long sigh of relief, and murmured: "We have finally arrived at Cangzhou City. If the imperial army arrives in two days at night, I am afraid that this city gate will be destroyed."
It won’t open.”
After saying this, he turned to look at the young man behind him and said, "Brother Tang, it's all thanks to you on this journey. Without you, we would probably have suffered losses along the way."
Tang Ning waved her hand and said, "It's just a rough road. Brother Zhang is being polite."
After he, Li Tianlan, Yan Yan and Lao Zheng left the army, they traveled day and night. On the way, they encountered a group of bandits robbing the caravan, so they rescued them. At this time, they were not far from Cangzhou City. Today's Cangzhou City,
The four of them did not have proper identification and were unable to enter the city. If they were attached to the caravan, they could follow them in. After some consideration, Tangning stayed and entered the city with the small caravan.
In order to avoid arousing suspicion, he publicly called Li Tianlan and Wan Yanyan his sisters, while Lao Zheng played the role of follower.
The man surnamed Zhang looked back and then looked at him and said: "It's not good to talk about the elopement. In my opinion, you and your two brothers and sisters hid outside for two years, gave birth to several children, and cooked the raw rice.
If I go back at this time, even if my father-in-law disagrees, he can only hold his nose and admit it..."
Tangning was stunned and said, "Brother Zhang misunderstood, they are really my sisters."
The man surnamed Zhang waved his hand and said: "Hey, Brother Zhang has traveled all over the country and has never seen anything. However, this is the first time I have seen someone like you running away with two girls."
"Don't deny it." The man surnamed Zhang looked at Li Tianlan and turned around and said: "The way that girl looks at you is wrong. How can any sister look at her brother like that... But the other girl, Brother Tang, still
No matter how hard you try, she will look like a rouge horse and it will be difficult to tame her..."
"What did you say!" Wan Yanyan couldn't bear it for a long time, but she kept holding it in order not to reveal her identity. When she heard that guy actually said she was a horse, she couldn't hold it in any longer and jumped up about to have a seizure.
But he was dragged back by Li Tianlan.
If I continue to talk to this gossipy man, I don't know what he will come up with. Tangning nodded and said, "I will work hard."
At the city gate, as the motorcade approached, a guard guarding the city stepped forward and said calmly: "Lu Yin?"
The man surnamed Zhang hurriedly handed the road guide over, then looked back and said, "Why don't you take out the road guide and let this official check it!"
"No need!" The officer glanced at him and said, "You are in the same group, right? There are so many people waiting behind you. When will we check them one by one? Let's go quickly..."
Tang Ning had already prepared some excuses about money and bribes, but she didn't expect that the official who checked at the city gate would be so irresponsible that he even skipped this step.
There was also a commotion in Cangzhou City, with people walking in a hurry, and heavily armed soldiers running past on the streets from time to time.
"I heard there's another mutiny in the army!"
"How many times has this happened in the past few days..."
"The imperial army has not yet arrived, but there have been so many mutinies in the army. There is no way we can win..."
…
Walking on the street, you can occasionally hear people talking.
Before the battle, one's own army mutinied first, which showed that the people believed in the king. This was an unwinnable battle. Unless the king of Zhou was a fool, he would choose to rebel at this time.
It can be seen that the secret letter Li Tianlan received is very likely to be true.
Wan Yanyan was a little silent. She already knew the purpose of Tang Ning bringing her here, and she also saw the scene of refugees fleeing along the way. She was biting her lower lip, her expression was tangled and struggling.
All the inns in Cangzhou City were full, and we finally found a remote one with only two rooms, one for Tang Ning and Lao Zheng, and one for Li Tianlan and Wan Yanyan.
She didn't get much rest along the way. After entering the inn, Tang Ning went to bed to recharge her batteries.
After riding for a long time, his butt was almost worn out, and Li Tianlan must have felt uncomfortable too. Among the four, Lao Zheng had been riding steadily, and Wanyanyan was jumping around like a monkey when she got on the horse. She was worthy of being on the grassland.
He was born in China and was extremely skilled in equestrian skills.
After waking up feeling refreshed, Tang Ning knocked on the door next door. When she walked in, she found that Li Tianlan had already changed into night clothes.
Tangning looked at her and asked in surprise, "What are you going to do?"
Li Tianlan walked to the window and said, "Go to the palace."
Tangning hurriedly stopped her and said, "Wait for me, I'll go with you."
…
Flying around on the rooftop wearing night clothes at night is a very exciting thing. Although Tang Ning's martial arts skills are mediocre, her lightness skills are pretty good and she is not inferior to her.
The Prince of Zhou's Mansion is located in Cangzhou City. Outside the Prince's Mansion, there are guards holding torches patrolling constantly. The guards are extremely tight.
Tangning and Li Tianlan waited outside for half an hour before they found an opportunity and sneaked into the palace during their shift change.
The place where they were seemed to be a garden. Outside the garden, there were also dots of fire and the sound of footsteps.
Li Tianlan looked back at him and said, "Just follow me and don't run around."
She seemed to be very familiar with Prince Zhou's Mansion. She always walked to remote and uninhabited places. After avoiding several rounds of guards, she finally arrived at a certain courtyard.
There was only one room with lights on in the courtyard, but outside that room, there were two people guarding it. Judging from their figure and clothing, they were undoubtedly from the prairie.
Li Tianlan's hand pressed on the hilt of the sword, and was held down by Tang Ning again.
"Leave it to me." He whispered, looking at the two people at the door, and with a flick of his finger, something seemed to flash across the dark night.
Snapped!
At the door of the room, a man suddenly slapped himself on the face and muttered something.
Snapped!
A moment later, another person slapped him on the neck, cursing and not knowing what to say.
Not long after, their expressions changed, they both held their stomachs and bent down to leave.
Li Tianlan quickly stepped forward and pushed the door open. Tangning followed closely and closed the door.
In the room, a fat middle-aged man was sitting at the table. Hearing the noise coming from the door, he looked back, his expression changed drastically, and he said in surprise: "Who are you!"
Li Tianlan pulled off the mask. The middle-aged man was stunned, and then he said happily: "Xiaolan, why is it you!"
Li Tianlan stepped forward and asked, "What is going on here?"
The middle-aged man sighed and said: "You have also seen that the palace is now under their control, and most of the generals in Cangzhou are also controlled by them. Their purpose is to cause riots in Chu State..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden knock on the door.
The middle-aged man's expression changed, he looked around and whispered: "Someone is coming, you should hide quickly!"
