A scene similar to a movie began to appear in front of his eyes. However, this scene was three-dimensional in nature, and it was as if he was immersed in it!
It was early spring, and the road was covered with dust. A young man wearing a brocade robe was riding on it, and he was looking very handsome. He waved the horsewhip in his hand and landed on the back of the horse.
The youth proudly rode his horse, riding on the wind. However, waves of exclamations came from behind, "Your Highness, please wait for your subordinate!" The youth sighed and reined in the reins to stop the steed. Behind him, four black horses came rushing over, each of them young and valiant, but all dressed up differently, one of them holding an iron fishing rod with a full face and a pair of axes on his back, the other holding a copper stick with a pair of electric eyes, and the other holding a quill. The four of them rode the horse quickly, looking anxious, but seeing the young man waiting for them all, they could not help but feel relieved.
The scholar with the judge's pen dismounted and knelt on the ground, begging, "When the Emperor found out that the prince had run away in the middle of the night, he was immediately enraged and sent us to invite the prince back. We request that the prince be merciful and return with us, otherwise all four of us will have our heads removed." The other three also knelt down, begging.
The young man laughed and spoke loudly: "Zhu Danchen, don't scare others. My Royal Brother has always been kind to his subjects and has always treated them like brothers. How would he kill you all over such a small matter? I am not going out on impulse this time, but I want to settle this matter personally and share the worries of Royal Brother. You guys don't have to make things difficult for me, either come with me or go back and explain this to my Royal Brother. In short, I won't go with you guys. "
This handsome young man was the Dali's Southern Guardian King, Duan Zhengchun. He had just turned eighteen this year, and was very proud of himself. Just because he heard that had rebelled, the young and infuriated him wanted to go rebel by himself. He knew that Duan Zhengming would definitely oppose it, so he decided to quietly slip away in the middle of the night.
When the Baoding Emperor heard this, he flew into a rage. He immediately sent Yu Qiao to read up on the four capable experts, and first rode on his fast horse to stop Duan Zhengchun. Then, he instructed his subordinate, Ba Tian Shi, to lead the reinforcements.
Chu Wanli, Gu Ducheng, Fu Sigui, Zhu Danchen, even though they were about the same age as Duan Zhengchun, they were all top class experts who had their own unique skills. They had come to search for the Southern Steadfast King according to the orders of the Baoding Emperor. Their horses were fast, and they kept chasing after Duan Zhengchun non-stop. As expected, they had caught up to Duan Zhengchun.
Hearing Duan Zhengchun's words, the four of them looked at each other, they were in a dilemma, they knew that this young master had a stubborn temper, if he insisted, he would definitely be defeated, but he was not brought back, so the Emperor could not explain anything to them. Chu Wanli, Gu Ducheng, and Fu Sigui all looked at Zhu Danchen, hoping that he would make a decision.
Zhu Danchen laughed bitterly and said to Duan Zhengchun: "Does Your Highness know how many rebels are there in Zigzag?" Duan Zhengchun shook his head and said: "Who cares how many of them there are, we will capture the leader first. When this king goes forward to capture their chief, the rebel army will naturally fall apart." Zhu Danchen shook his head slightly, and said: "Your highness has extraordinary courage and insight, this subordinate naturally admires you, but that Zigzag Chieftain has fifty thousand strong soldiers under his command and has many experts protecting him, does Your highness really think that you can get close to him? What if she failed? "Although the position of the chief is not low, she is still nothing compared to the prince. With the prince's status, it is not worth it for him to risk his life for such a person."
After a moment of silence, Duan Zhengshun said, "What you say makes sense. I was being reckless." The four guards heaved a sigh of relief. Zhu Danchen said, "Then Your Highness, come back with us. The Emperor is still waiting for you." Duan Zhengshun shook his head. "I don't care about the rebellion anymore, but I'm so bored inside Dali City that I want to go out for some sightseeing. That should be fine, right?
Zhu Danchen thought to himself, "Your highness, this is just another way of putting it. In fact, he still wants to fight the rebellion." He then smiled and said, "If Your Highness is going out for a walk, then your subordinates can accompany Your Highness to relax. It's always better to have more people to accompany you." The other three people also agreed.
Duan Zhengchun was annoyed by the four of them, so he could only agree: "Alright then, let's go on the road together, it's just that I want to go somewhere, you guys can't stop me." Fu Sigui laughed: "We will follow whatever Your Highness wants, it's up to you to decide." Duan Zhengchun sighed, he then spurred his horse and dashed forward, and the rest of the people anxiously followed suit.
It took only half a day for them to reach the edge of the Angry River, but as the waves rolled over and the thunder drums boomed against the shore, they couldn't help but praise for a while. They looked around them, and saw deep valleys and cliffs, and water roaring at the bottom of valleys.
Looking at the magnificent scenery, Duan Zhengchun was endlessly praising. He thought that he normally only played in the city and had not come out for a look at the wonders of the Da Li Kingdom for a long time, just to have a feast for his eyes.
The iron rod in his hand could be used as a weapon and he could fish whenever he had nothing to do, it could be said that he killed two birds with one stone. On the other hand, Gu Ducheng had to cut down trees to build a grass hut, while Fu Sigui picked wild fruits and hunted wild game.
Although Zhu Danchen enjoyed the beautiful scenery, he was still worried. He took the opportunity to ask: "What is the Duke actually thinking? Can you tell this subordinate something? "
Duan Zhengchun looked at Zhu Danchen, and knew that this fellow was extremely intelligent, and was unable to hide anything from him, so he said: "This king is already an adult, above tens of thousands of people by one person, but I have not done anything, so I am unavoidably called an embroidered pillow behind my back. If he could wipe out the Zigzag's rebellion, he would benefit greatly even to himself. "Dan Chen, what do you think?"
Zhu Danchen nodded, and said: "Of course I understand Your Highness's thoughts, and even though Your Highness is known as playing around, I still want to go and settle the matters of the Zigzag. This time, the Zigzag has made a sudden move, catching even the Emperor by surprise. Right now, they are calling for troops to go and pave the way, the Prince is acting rashly, if they are held hostage, the Emperor will be in a much more difficult position. "
Duan Zhengchun said: "You are right, but with the big bodyguard acting in such a dangerous manner, there is nothing wrong with it. If we shrink our heads, how could we accomplish such a big thing? Royal Brother has always been good to me, I also feel very guilty towards him, so just treat this as returning his debt."
Zhu Danchen was completely confused by his words. He did not understand what Duan Zhengchun meant by "debt repayment". As for Duan Zhengchun, when he faced the vast waves of the river, he was still reminiscing about a period of time half a year ago.
That day, when he went to the palace to see Royal Brother Duan Zhengming, Baoding Emperor went to the Sky Dragon Temple to listen to Master Ku Rong's lecture on cultivation, and he missed out. With Duan Zhengchun's position, he could freely walk in the imperial harem. He first went to the imperial study to read a few books, feeling extremely bored, he thus walked out of the study and into the imperial garden.
Just as Duan Zhengchun was about to leave, he heard a soft sigh coming from not too far away. Although it was a light sigh, it was enough to cause his soul to be corroded, and when he looked up, he felt like he was going insane.
It was the current Empress, her real name was Gao Youxue, and she was a beauty from a large clan called the Gao Clan. Before Duan Zhengming ascended the throne, in order to win over the support of the Gao Clan, he had arranged a betrothal gift and married Gao Youxue, then ascended the throne, and with one step, Gao Youxue had ascended the heavens and became the Empress of the.
However, Duan Zhengming wholeheartedly governed the country, and when he was free, he liked to study and study buddhist arts. If he was not handling the matters of the country at the palace, he would go to the Sky Dragon Temple to talk with the esteemed monk about it, and he was not worried about the happiness in his room, and ignored Gao Youxue. At this time, she was only twenty years old. She had no place to live, so she could only sigh and stare blankly at the moon.
On this day, she sent away the palace maids and eunuchs by her side, wandering the imperial garden by herself. Seeing the crabapple blossoms fall, she was touched and couldn't help but shed tears, letting out a quiet sigh.
He then heard a voice from the flower bush not far away asking, "Why is royal sister-in-law sighing, is there something wrong with your mind?"
Gao Youxue was shocked, she turned to look, only to see Duan Zhengchun walking over, she heaved a sigh of relief and laughed: "So uncle is here, you really gave me a fright. "Ai, there is nothing wrong with my mind. I just saw the petals fall and felt an inexplicable sense of melancholy."
Duan Zhengchun looked at Gao Youxue in front of him, his heart filled with joy, and thought: My Royal Brother is only concerned with the affairs of the Empire, and leaving such an amazing lady in the harem, is truly a waste of heaven's treasure! He had always been extremely respectful towards this royal sister-in-law, and normally, he would even lower his head when he spoke. But when he looked, he was immediately captivated, only to see the beauty in front of him had skin as smooth as cream, beautiful eyes looking around, truly a heavenly beauty, although the palace robe was wide, it was unable to hide her exquisite figure, causing Duan Zhengchun to become foolish for a moment.
Gao Youxue felt embarrassed looking at him, her face red she spat: "Foolish brat, what are you looking at?" She was also a girl, so without a servant by her side, she naturally let go of her modesty and let go of some of her words. Duan Zhengchun regained his senses, he anxiously bowed and apologized: "I was rude, royal sister-in-law please forgive me." Gao Youxue took a step forward, stared at Duan Zhengchun, and sighed: "Why are you being rude? I don't understand. "
Damn you, brother," he stammered, "you shouldn't look at my imperial concubine like that. It's also because my imperial concubine was as beautiful as a fairy that my younger brother was stunned. Please forgive my impudence!" Gao Yanxue smiled like a blooming flower, "So it's because of this, that's not a problem. You and I are a family, why are you making such a fuss over nothing. Besides, this Dalai Lama is humble to me, and he treats me like a Buddha. But no one thinks of me as a woman, so I have to thank you.
She raised her head and looked at the crabapple tree, sighing: "This crabapple tree is truly strange, it did not blossom for a whole year last year, but this year it has bloomed very early." As he spoke, he reached out his hand to pick one, then mischievously put it on his head.
Duan Zhengchun was initially lost in thought as he looked at the beauty, but he suddenly came to a realization and broke out in cold sweat. "How could I be so rash to actually adore my own royal sister-in-law? If anyone else finds out about this, I will be in an irreparable situation! " The more he thought about it, the more ashamed he became. He bowed and said, "Junior suddenly feels unwell, please take your leave, I will come again in the future to pay my respects to royal sister-in-law." With that, he hurriedly left.
Gao Youxue watched him leave, supporting crabapple tree, she fell into deep thought.
After that, Duan Zhengchun couldn't forget about Gao Youxue for a long time. However, the more he thought of her, the more guilty he felt towards his brother Duan Zhengming.
Duan Zhengchun was still immersed in his memories, when a strange person in a green robe suddenly scuttled over from the cliff face. He moved extremely fast, with the speed of lightning, he reached out with his thin black iron rod and struck towards Duan Zhengchun, this strike was very sudden, Zhu Danchen was simply unable to assist him, and as Duan Zhengchun was just a fledgling, with very shallow experience in martial arts, he was actually struck in the chest by the iron rod. He spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground.
The cyan robed man let out a dark and strange laugh, the iron staff in his left hand tapped on the rock, and he had already leaped up, gently landing a few meters away, the iron staff in his right hand touched the ground, and then another few meters away, this man seemed to be disabled in both feet, all thanks to the movement of the iron staff, but his movement was extremely fast, Zhu Danchen chased after him with all his might, and the rest of the people had already caught up to him, but they were still unable to catch up.
Zhu Danchen saw that he could not catch up to the culprit, so he stomped his feet and said: Let's return to save the Duke first! They led the group back, but Duan Zhengchun was already dead, it was clear that his heavy strike had hit a fatal point.
Chu Wanli threw his head back and cried, "What should we do if we don't protect His Highness properly? He was appointed by His Majesty as his successor. Now that he's dead in this place, both of us are going to be annihilated under His Majesty's rage!"
Gu Ducheng said: "What is the use of crying now, he is dead, we did not protect the prince well, and should be looking for death, but unfortunately we did not catch the evil person who did it!"
Fu Sigui said, "Now that things have come to this, we can only bring back the body of the prince, and then kill ourselves as a sign of apology. Hopefully, we can preserve the lives of our entire family."
However, Zhu Danchen remained silent, as if he was thinking about something.
Chu Wanli asked, "Dan Chen, you are the smartest one among us. Why don't you say something? We will listen to you."
Zhu Danchen said: If we do not protect Your Highness properly, it is our fault, but compared to the lives of the entire Dali, it is a huge loss. With Your Highness dying like this, His Majesty will have lost his backbone, and will definitely be overly hurt, causing chaos in the imperial government, and this will give the political enemies an opportunity, the country will definitely fall into chaos, and that is what we have to consider first.
Fu Sigui said: "Dan Chen still thinks long and hard, but now that the Duke is dead, what's the use of saying that?"
Zhu Danchen waved the cool fan in his hand, and said: "I have an astonishing thought, I don't know if you would listen or not."