I don't know how long it took before Zhang Qigong finally woke up.
He was surprised to find that he was sleeping on the ground beside the campfire, with a sheepskin blanket covering him.
"Strange, how could I..."
He sat up, feeling that his head was still a little dizzy, so he subconsciously raised his hand to rub his forehead, but unexpectedly caught a glimpse of a woman sitting about half a foot away.
The woman was facing him sideways, sitting on a log that served as a stool next to the bonfire. She held a bamboo branch in her hands and leaned against the bonfire. Zhang Qigong glanced at him and found that the woman seemed to be roasting something in the bonfire -
—Probably food.
"Are you awake?"
The woman said calmly, as if she had no intention of turning around: "Some of your subordinates were too excited, so I let them continue to sleep."
"..."
Zhang Qigong's expression froze.
As his consciousness gradually became clearer, he recognized the woman in front of him as one of the unknown group of women who attacked them after nightfall, and was probably the leader of those women.
Recalling the last moment before he fell into coma, Zhang Qigong couldn't help but touch the back of his neck when the sharp sword held by the woman in front of him was still resting on his neck.
To be fair, Zhang Qigong is not afraid of death, but he does not want to die at a young age because he has not yet realized his ambitions and has not yet assisted the hero in his eyes, King Zhao Run of Wei, to unify the Central Plains and then carry forward Legalism.
He slowly stood up and observed the woman in front of him solemnly.
The dancing firelight in the bonfire shone on the face of the woman in front of him, giving rise to something strange and sinister.
He looked around, wanting to see the status of the Black Crows and Jie warriors in his team.
Since this trip to Bashu was not a direct war against Bashu, Zhang Qigong did not bring many Black Crows or hired Jie warriors with him. There were only twenty Black Crows and more than twenty Jie warriors in his team.
, a total of about forty people.
But looking around at this moment, he found that the Black Crows under his command all had their hands tied behind their backs and were sitting in a circle with their heads hanging down. It seemed that they had not yet woken up - or in other words, as this woman said.
I mean, after I woke up, I was knocked unconscious by them again.
As for the more than 20 Jie warriors, the situation is similar to that of the Black Crows. The difference is that a few of them have woken up, but for some reason they have looks of panic or even fear on their faces.
This surprised Zhang Qigong.
Because in his impression, the Jie tribe warriors were tyrannical, cruel people who valued the honor of warriors higher than their lives. Logically speaking, they would not be frightened like this by their enemies.
"Are you afraid of these women?"
Zhang Qigong looked around.
There are two other bonfires around. Originally, the Black Crows and the Jie tribe warriors each used a bonfire, but now, there are several women sitting in twos and threes beside the two bonfires.
Like the woman who just spoke to Zhang Qigong, these women were all wearing clothes with red patterns on a white background - Zhang Qigong glanced at them for a long time but couldn't figure out what they were.
"Hello?"
The woman's displeased voice interrupted Zhang Qigong's peek.
He turned his head suddenly and found that the woman who seemed to be the leader of these women was turning her head to look at him, her face filled with displeasure.
"Who are you waiting for?" Zhang Qigong asked in a deep voice.
The woman chuckled lightly and asked, "Have you never heard of "Ba Wu"?"
"Ba Wu?"
Zhang Qigong was stunned. He knew nothing about the land of Bashu and he really didn't know this.
After thinking for a while, he whispered: "Why... why did you attack us? You and I... have no grievances."
"Well..."
A strange look flashed across the woman's face that Zhang Qigong couldn't understand, and she immediately changed the subject and said, "Are you from Wei?"
"..."
Zhang Qigong fell silent upon hearing this.
He didn't know how to answer this meaningless question. If the other party's next sentence was "I hate Wei people the most in my life," wouldn't he and his subordinates be killed because of his words?
After all, the only thing Zhang Qigong knew about Bashu was that the Wei people—mainly the Zhao family, rather than Zhang Qigong, a commoner from the Wei state—seemed to have some old grudges with the Ba people.
"Actually, I'm Korean."
After struggling for a long time, Zhang Qigong answered carefully.
He considered it very carefully: South Korea and Bashu are not bordering each other, and people from the two places have rarely had contact in the past. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any grudges, right?
But what I didn't expect was that after hearing this, the woman showed a strange smile on her face, and then said lightly: "Ah, if you are from Wei, I can spare your life, but
Since he is a Korean, let’s kill him.”
"Eh? Wrong bet?"
Seeing the woman in front of him say the word "kill" with a calm expression, Zhang Qigong felt his hair stand on end, and a cold air suddenly seemed to surge up his back.
At this moment, he could not care about his reputation as Huang Chihou, so he quickly changed his words: "No, I am Wei..."
But just when he had a look of horror on his face, he saw the woman giggling, waving her hand to interrupt him, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I know you are from Wei, I'm just teasing you.
That’s all.”
"..."
Seeing the other party laughing heartlessly, Zhang Qigong's eyes twitched a few times.
He felt that the woman in front of him was probably not a kind person, but a person with a bad character.
Suddenly, he was stunned and asked in confusion: "This...this girl, how do you know that I am from Wei?"
"It's very simple. I recognize the character Wei."
The woman took out a golden token from somewhere and shook her head towards Zhang Qigong. She saw the word "Wei" clearly engraved on the side of the golden token facing Zhang Qigong.
Seeing this, Zhang Qigong's expression suddenly changed and he subconsciously touched his waist.
Only then did he realize that his token of "Tiance Mansion Right Commander" was missing.
After realizing this, Zhang Qigong was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Precisely because he is the right captain of Tiance Mansion, he deeply understands the power of his token.
With this token, he, Zhang Qigong, can mobilize any army in the Wei State except the imperial guards in accordance with the emergency regulations, and take over any city in the Wei State except Luoyang - of course, the commanders of those armies and the city's
The guard will immediately send someone to the Tiance Mansion for a second confirmation after being taken over, regardless of whether there is a corresponding official document.
Precisely because this token was so important, Zhang Qigong kept it close to his heart and did not dare to show it easily, lest it fall into the eyes of interested people. However, he never thought that it would fall into the hands of others.
"Hey, what's your name?" the woman asked.
Zhang Qigong hesitated for a moment and said cautiously: "My surname is Zhang...Gong, Zhang Gong."
"Zhang Gong." The woman muttered, and then asked: "What kind of official office is Tiance Mansion? Does the right captain have a high official position?"
"Well, the Tiance Mansion is..." Zhang Qigong opened his mouth and blundered: "Actually, it is just a small office that handles heavy government affairs for the emperor. It is of no importance. As for the right captain... he is the one who supervises them."
"So, you are actually just a minor official?" the woman asked.
"Yes, yes..." Zhang Qigong nodded repeatedly and said, "I'm just a low-ranking official..."
"Seriously?" There was a hint of doubt on the woman's face: "You didn't lie to me, did you?"
Zhang Qigong didn't know where he had exposed his flaw, so he bit the bullet and said: "How could I...how could I deceive a girl?"
The woman looked Zhang Qigong up and down, frowned and said, "My sister sent you here, I thought you were an important minister around King Wei..."
"Eh?"
Zhang Qigong was stunned for a moment, feeling that something seemed a bit unbelievable, and quickly asked: "May I ask the girl who your sister is..."
"My sister's name is Mi Jiang, and she is married to the king of your Wei people..." the woman said without hesitation, and then pointed to a sharp sword leaning on the log and said: "This sword belongs to me.
Sister, I left it to you and asked you to come find me, right?"
"The Queen?!"
Zhang Qigong was shocked when he heard this, and quickly turned his head to look at the sharp sword leaning on the log. It was indeed the Queen's belongings that he had carried with him during this period and did not dare to leave them behind.
Looking at the woman in front of him, Zhang Qigong suddenly remembered the day when he was summoned to Fengyi Palace by Queen Mi Jiang before leaving for Bashu.
That day, Zhang Qigong was greatly surprised when he heard Queen Mi Jiang summoning her.
Because the contemporary queens of the Wei Kingdom, like the queen Wang of the previous generation, are women who never participate in state affairs. The difference is that Queen Wang, who is now the Queen Mother, is keen on cultivating her character and studying Taoism, while
The contemporary empress Mi is keen on cultivating flowers and grass, or cultivating some poisonous insects that can infiltrate people.
"What did this Queen Mi call me for?"
Puzzled, Zhang Qigong followed several palace maids to Fengyi Palace and met the mistress of the Wei Kingdom.
Zhang Qigong remembered clearly that when he saw Queen Mi, she was holding a oozing centipede in her hand, which was two fingers wide. Even poisoners like Zhang Qigong felt horrified when they saw it.
But the empress held it in her hand without any emotion, so that when Zhang Qigong looked at the oozing centipede that kept twisting and struggling, he felt a sense of pity in his heart.
"Master Zhang."
"I'm here."
"I heard from your majesty that Mr. Zhang is about to go to the land of Bashu. Is there anything wrong with this?"
"Yes, the Queen... I wonder what the Queen's orders are?"
"Well... I have a younger sister named Ri Rui. She grew up with me in Badi since childhood. After I followed Your Majesty, Rui'er also came to Da Wei and lived in Daliang for a while.
, but in the end, she returned to Bashu and took on the responsibilities that should have been borne by me... You took my former sword to Badi and tried to find a way to find your sister-in-law and see how she is doing now.
....... Please leave it to Master Zhang." After saying that, Queen Mi signaled the maid at the side and handed a sharp sword to Zhang Qigong.
Zhang Qigong took the sword and said solemnly: "Queen, don't worry, I will find a way to find Lord Mi Rui."
…
Looking at the woman in front of him, and then at Queen Mi's sword, the expression on Zhang Qigong's face suddenly became very exciting.
It turned out that the woman in front of them who almost killed them was actually his sister, Mi Rui, Queen Mi of the Wei Kingdom.
This is really a flood that has washed away the Dragon King Temple.
"So you are Master Mi Rui."
Zhang Qigong breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly bowed and saluted: "I, Zhang Qigong, the right captain of Tiance Mansion, pays homage to Lord Mi Rui."
"Eh?"
That woman, no, it should be said to be Mi Rui, the current leader of the Badi Zhurong line of witches and the sister of Queen Mi Jiang of Wei State. She glanced at Zhang Qigong and asked in surprise: "Didn't you just keep saying your name was Zhang Gong?"
What?"
"Uh...are you blaming me for hiding it on purpose?"
A drop of cold sweat slowly flowed down Zhang Qigong's forehead, and he quickly held up his hands and explained: "Don't blame Sir Mi Rui. It's just that the official just now didn't know the identity of Sir Mi Rui, so he didn't dare to reveal the truth. I can only...please forgive me, Sir Mi Rui."
"Hmph, so the right captain of Tiance Mansion is not a small official?" Mi Rui snorted displeasedly.
"Uh...yes, yes." Zhang Qigong said coquettishly: "I'm not boasting, but the official position is higher than the lower official. Looking at it, I'm afraid there are not more than ten people in Wei..." As he said, he secretly glanced at Mi
Rui, seeing the latter's uncertain expression, couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
However, at this time, Mi Rui opposite him was also quite uneasy.
"It's over, it's over, it turned out to be the important ministers under my brother-in-law... I almost killed the important ministers under my brother-in-law... Fortunately, I was smart and found that these people don't look like the minions of Lord Chu Shui. Just... in case this happens
What should I do if my name is Zhang Qigong and I go back and complain to my brother-in-law? If not, I will simply kill them and it will be over. If my brother-in-law sends someone to ask about it in the future, I will just pretend that I don't know?"
Various thoughts flashed through her mind, and Mi Rui's eyes sometimes became peaceful, and sometimes filled with murderous intent, making Zhang Qigong sweatdrop.
Thinking about it, Zhang Qigong has been in contact with ghosts and other black crows who kill without batting an eyelid for many years, and naturally he can gradually understand the feeling of "murderous intent" that cannot be described in words.
He felt that he was like the centipede that was constantly twisting and struggling in the hands of Queen Mi at that time. Although it looked attractive, it could only be slaughtered by the queen.
At this time, Mi Rui had also made up her mind.
To say that the person that Mi Rui admires the most in her life, apart from her sister Mi Jiang, is probably her brother-in-law Zhao Run.
Even after many years, she still couldn't forget the contemptuous look in her brother-in-law Zhao Run's eyes when she was rolling on the ground, which was so cold to the heart.
And when she got up from the ground in despair at the end, she was filled with frustration.
When she thought of that brother-in-law, Xi Rui felt both respect and fear.
After all, since she was sensible, her sister Mi Jiang has always been a strict mother, but her brother-in-law was able to subdue such a vicious sister. In addition, Mi Rui herself has also experienced sex with her brother-in-law.
The consequences of going against him made her fearful of her brother-in-law.
That hateful brother-in-law always used sweet cakes to ask her to do this and that, and she had to obey him. If she didn't, he would order her to stop eating cakes, dried fruits, etc.
But when she was angry, sulky, and vowed never to talk to her brother-in-law again in her life, the latter always had a way of easily telling her to "break her power," which made her very discouraged.
Thinking that she might be scolded and punished by her brother-in-law in the future, Mi Rui felt a little uneasy. She looked at Zhang Qigong who was also uneasy, so that the atmosphere became very strange.
At this moment, three witches came over from the darkness in the distance and said sternly to Mi Rui: "Great witch, I have confirmed that there are no whereabouts of those bitches from the Gonggong lineage in this area. I will wait for you."
It's really a mistake, these people are indeed not Chu Shuijun's subordinates..."
"Ahem!" Mi Rui coughed, interrupting the witch.
She secretly blamed in her heart: I knew I made a mistake just now! Why do you still mention it? Can't you just treat it as if it never happened? What if Zhang Qigong finds out that he almost died unjustly because we got the wrong target?
, complain to King Wei’s brother-in-law, what should we do?
Thinking of this, she glared hard at the miko who spoke so freely.
Zhang Qigong saw this scene clearly and thought about it in his mind.
"Master Mi Rui's move...could it be that she doesn't trust me? No, maybe I just offended her, so she doesn't want to have anything to do with us...Ah, this is troublesome, she is Queen Mi's sister, if
because
I offended her and complained to His Majesty or the Queen, what should I do? Although Your Majesty is a wise and wise ruler, he will definitely not punish me heavily for this, but compared to heavy punishments, those 'small punishments' are the most...
Why!"
Zhang Qigong secretly complained in his heart.
What is a "small punishment"? That is, when Zhang Qigong was demoted to the temple as a handyman under the hands of his political enemy Jie Zi, that is, Gao Kuo, the commanding general of Zuo of Tiance Mansion, and Wei Cheng, were demoted to
On duty at the East City Gate.
Although it is indeed a small punishment, it is enough to be remembered for a lifetime.
"...I have to find a way to ease Master Mi Rui's hostility towards me."
Thinking of this, Zhang Qigong opened his mouth and said: "Master Mi Rui, is the Chu Shui Lord that the witch is talking about, the Chu Shui Lord of the Chu Kingdom? ... Do you have any grudges with that Chu Shui Lord?"
"So what?"
Mi Rui, who was still angry at what she said to the miko, said coldly.
However, Zhang Qigong didn't care and asked in a friendly manner: "In other words, Lord Mi Rui and the other witches are ambushing here just to intercept and kill Lord Chu Shui, but they never expected to bump into us..."
Having said this, Zhang Qigong was startled because he felt that Mi Rui's gaze on him suddenly became very sharp.
"What does this bastard mean by deliberately exposing this matter? Could it be that he wants to take the opportunity to blackmail me? Huh! How can a smart person like me be at your mercy? ... As long as you dare to threaten me, I will kill you with one sword.
If the brother-in-law of the King of Wei asks about it in the future, I will just say that I don’t know. Anyway, there will be no evidence to prove it."
Mi Rui stared at Zhang Qigong with a gloomy expression.
This made Zhang Qigong feel baffled, because he felt the chill that penetrated his heart again.
In other words, it was Mi Rui's murderous intention towards him.
"Uh...did I say something wrong? Oh, I understand, maybe they want to take matters into their own hands and don't want us to get involved in their feud with Chu Shuijun... Tsk tsk, he's such a changeable character.
What a vicious woman!』
Zhang Qigong sighed secretly.
Even though he was always resourceful, he couldn't see through the woman in front of him.
But he was not surprised by this. After all, the woman in front of him was the sister of his Queen Mi of Wei.
The elder sister can manage such a large harem in an orderly manner. She must be a woman with both wealth and means. In this case, how bad can her younger sister be?