Who among the gangsters wants to fall in love?

Chapter 256 Just a passerby
To the southwest of Chang'an, the Wei River flows, with green willow trees on both sides of the river bank, and tourists leaning on the railings while boats are sailing on the river.

The flock of red-crowned cranes were scattered on both sides of the river bank, hiding in the reeds, lowering their heads to drink water, flapping their wings from time to time, picking up small fish from the river with their scarlet beaks, looking around for a few times before swallowing them.

Tap tap tap————

The sound of horse hooves was like thunder, coming suddenly from far away, startling the flock of red-crowned cranes, who screamed a few times. Their wings flapped on the river surface, creating splashes of water, and they rose from the ground and flew away in groups.

A red-crowned crane looked back and saw a number of horse-drawn carriages galloping forward on the plain. Less than three miles behind the carriages, a large cloud of dust was rising. Dozens of people holding swords, spears, bows and crossbows and other weapons were chasing them with murderous intent and shouting to the sky.

"You little brat! How dare you kill our people? Why don't you dare come down and fight us head-on!?"

"Shameless thief! He must be a spy from the Rong people!"

Zhu Yunliang was holding a horse-slaying sword in his hand, riding his horse in the front, looking at the carriages and horses in front with a gloomy look. Looking at this, it seemed that it was just an ordinary merchant caravan? Were they really just some jianghu people who saw injustice and drew their swords to help?

No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure it out. Zhu Yunliang was after all the leader of Chang'an's number one Cao Gang, and he was also a rare master in Qin. If he really talked about the skills of his subordinates, he could rank among the top five in Qin, and was only ranked below the martial arts masters of Qin. He was arrogant, and as the saying goes, it is better to lose face than to lose the battle. Even if the person on the carriage was really Zhao Wumian, he would not show any weakness in front of his subordinates.

He immediately swung the whip violently, and the BMW under his crotch was like an arrow shot from a bow, forming a black shadow, keeping a distance from his men. It was feared that it would catch up with the carriage in a few more breaths. Obviously, even if the BMW under his crotch was not a thousand-mile steed, it was not an ordinary horse.

At the same time, he used his internal energy, and shouted with a voice as loud as a bell and thunder, "Whoever dares to kill me! You rats, die!!"

The roar was so deafening that ripples appeared on the surface of the Wei River. The horses under his command behind him almost stumbled. Fortunately, they were far away, otherwise they would have been thrown to the ground.

Around the carriage, Shen Lian, Ji Jianming and others were riding their horses. When they heard the trash talk behind them, they did not hesitate to curse back, saying "fuck your mother". However, without Zhao Wumian's order, they had no intention of taking action for the time being.

Inside the car, Zhao Wumian raised his hand to open the car curtain and looked back.

The horses pulling the carriage are all very fast. In terms of speed, even the Eight Water Gang cannot catch up with them. Zhao Wumian was just deliberately keeping them in suspense. Now that they are in the wilderness, they can see everything around them at a glance and have a wide field of vision. If a fight really breaks out, they will not be afraid of an ambush.

But apart from the Eight Water Gang, there were only some idle people in sight... Ouch, there seemed to be someone hanging behind the Eight Water Gang, and there were quite a lot of people. I don't know if they were in the same group with the Eight Water Gang.

Zhao Wumian noticed that Wei He was in the same group. After taking a few glances, the Queen Mother pushed Zhao Wumian and said excitedly, "My Lord! My Lord! The Jianghu is chasing us! Come on, come on, follow me and fight our way in and out!"

The Queen Mother was chased as soon as she got off the boat, but she was not afraid at all, only filled with excitement.

However, the carriage was going too fast and the terrain was not smooth, causing the empress dowager's clothes to flutter on her chest. If she hadn't been wearing them tightly, Zhao Wumian even felt that Tuan'er would jump out. But the empress dowager was still unaware and just had an excited look on her face. It was obviously the first time in her life that she was being chased.

Look at Luo Xiangzhu who was sitting quietly behind her. Her face was inexplicably red at this moment, and her hands were tightly hugged on her chest. When she saw Zhao Wumian coming, she turned her eyes away, not daring to look at him. She felt that she was too old and was still trembling at this moment, feeling very embarrassed.

From a genetic point of view, Luo Xiangzhu and Luo Chaoyan really can't be seen as sisters...

Zhao Wumian held the queen mother's shoulders and asked her to sit still. "They are just some gangsters. I will be back soon. The queen mother should just stay here."

"Why don't you let me go? I know martial arts and can help."

"Is this the Queen Mother's first time traveling around the world?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

"Remember to wrap your chest next time."

After he finished speaking, Zhao Wumian turned around, looked at Mu Lier, nodded slightly, lifted the car curtain, turned around and left.

There were only three women left in the carriage. Mu Lier had been wrapping her chest since she was a child practicing sword, so she naturally had this habit now. Therefore, Tuan'er didn't jump around much, but it was not her turn to take action at this moment, so it was better for her to protect the empress dowager closely.

The Queen Mother was stunned for a moment and blinked, but she was not shy at all. She just put her arm around Tuan'er, lifted the curtain and looked out.

Tap tap tap————

The scenery in front of him was flying backwards rapidly, dust was flying under the carriage, the sound of horse hooves rang in his ears one after another, and the strong wind blew up the empress dowager's ink-black long hair behind her waist and the broken hair in front of her forehead, revealing her fair forehead and her mature and beautiful face.

Zhao Wumian lifted the curtain, raised his hand to grab the upper edge of the carriage, climbed up, and then lightly stepped on his boots and leaped out lightly. His speed was not fast. After all, if he used too much force, he would have stepped on a hole in the carriage. The carriage moved forward on its own, and the Queen Mother could just see Zhao Wumian's back from her perspective.

Zhu Yunliang's eyes darkened when he saw Zhao Wumian leap off the carriage. He held the knife handle in one hand, with the blade at the bottom and the tip of the blade dragging on the ground, leaving a knife mark more than ten feet wide. He then straddled a horse and smashed towards Zhao Wumian like a battering ram.

"How courageous! Die, you rat!"

In the blink of an eye, the two men were close to each other. He shouted loudly, veins popped out on his forehead, and with the inertia of the horse's charge, his saber seemed to lift up a thousand-pound boulder and chopped towards Zhao Wumian from bottom to top. Before the knife was raised, the sand and gravel on the ground had already rushed towards Zhao Wumian.

Zhu Yunliang was born in Qin. He was originally a wandering knight. He secretly learned some martial arts from various schools. Later, when he was in his twenties, he followed Qin Wang Jingnan and learned the skills of fighting in battle. One day, he was seriously injured and was saved by Luo Shuzhi. This life became Luo Shuzhi's.

At that time, the King of Qin, that is, the former emperor, had not been able to defeat the enemy with ease during the Jingnan Rebellion, but he had won nine out of ten battles. This made Luo Shuzhi realize that if the vassal kings became powerful and wanted to rebel, even if it would be difficult for him to emulate his father and seize the throne, it would certainly cause unrest in Dali. So he wanted to reduce the power of the vassal kings and expand their forces, so he let Zhu Yunliang return to Qin to quietly develop his power, and he secretly supported him.

After so many years, Zhu Yunliang has killed innocent people, kidnapped the families of his opponents, used despicable means, colluded with officials and bandits in Chang'an, and done many things that angered God and man in order to develop the Bashui Gang. However, he has not forgotten the life-saving grace of Luo Shuzhi.

With the support of Luo Shuzhi, he practiced a lot of rare martial arts secrets, and his talent for martial arts was extremely high. Although it was difficult for him to communicate with the bridge between heaven and earth, his strength was definitely among the top 100 in the world. This sword was naturally very powerful, and even the empress dowager couldn't help but feel nervous.

As the saying goes, power comes from the ground. At this moment, Zhao Wumian was in the air. This knife would not only kill him directly, but would also make him panic. However, Zhu Yunliang saw the young man in green suddenly stepped down with his long boots, accurately kicking the side of the saber hidden in the sand and gravel, and then pressed diagonally downward.

Zhu Yunliang felt his face flushed. I was using a heavy weapon and riding a horse. You were in the air with no leverage, and you still wanted to push my sword down! ? Are you stronger than ordinary people? Or is it your powerful inner energy that overwhelms everyone else?
The veins on his right hand holding the knife were bulging, his palm was red and trembling slightly. He wanted to use brute force to throw Zhao Wumian away, but no matter how hard he tried, he felt like he was shaking a mountain.

A trace of surprise instantly emerged in Zhu Yunliang's eyes, and he saw that the saber was pressed heavily to the ground by the young man in blue, making a small hole and raising dust. The horse pulled Zhu Yunliang forward, but the saber did not move, so the tail end of the saber hit Zhu Yunliang's heart heavily with a vibration, and threw him backwards, as if the whole person was pulled off the horse's back by a stick.

The young man in green touched the ground and then suddenly bounced up, hitting Zhu Yunliang's jaw with his knee, making a dull 'bang' sound. The dust was also carried upward by his body and was immediately blown away by the strong wind.

As soon as he kneeled down, Zhao Wumian felt that the force was not right. Why was it so hard? He immediately realized that Zhu Yunliang must have practiced some very good horizontal training kung fu.

To put it simply, horizontal training kung fu is like the golden bell and iron cloth shirt. The one that Zhao Wumian remembers most is Jiang Bai, one of the retainers of Prince Jin. It took a lot of effort to kill him, and even poison was used... Zhao Wumian has always felt that this kind of martial arts is a bit stupid and not very "cool", so he never thought about practicing it, but it has to be said that it is really good at resisting beatings.

Even though Zhu Yunliang was quite good at horizontal training, he still felt dizzy after taking such a strong force. He was in the air, his chin was hit by the knee, and his head tilted back. He saw Zhao Wumian clenching his fists and hitting Zhu Yunliang's shoulders hard from top to bottom.

bang bang------

Two sounds rang out almost at the same time. Zhu Yunliang was just blown away, and then he was smashed down like a cannonball. His tall figure formed a right angle in the air, and he spat out a mouthful of blood in the air.

boom----

A large semicircular pit suddenly appeared on the ground, and dust scattered all over the sky.
Although Zhu Yunliang's horizontal training kung fu is strong, he is probably not weaker than Jiang Bai at the beginning, but Zhao Wumian is no longer the same person as before. He had been holding back before because he still needed to question him, but now that he knew he could do horizontal training kung fu, he naturally gave it all... No matter how strong his horizontal training kung fu is, it depends on who he is fighting with. It is about the same as fighting against a martial artist who is also a master.

After punching with both fists, Zhu Yunliang was about to lose half his life. Zhao Wumian did not continue to attack, but raised his foot and stepped hard on the saber handle on the ground, and the saber flew upwards immediately.

Zhao Wumian raised his hand and grabbed back casually.

He attacked so quickly that it took less than half a breath from the time he threw Zhu Yunliang off his horse to the time he nearly killed him with two punches. At this moment, Zhu Yunliang's horse had only run a few steps.

Therefore, Zhao Wumian raised his hand and pulled lightly backwards, then held the reins. Then, under the inertia of the horse's forward motion, he was carried backwards, turned around in the air, and stepped onto the saddle. He pulled the reins again, turned the horse's head, and rushed towards the direction of the Bashui Gang. At this moment, the saber was in the air and was held by him.

The Queen Mother looked at this scene with her beautiful eyes shining with wonder, but what she was thinking about was probably not how handsome Zhao Wumian was, but whether she could be as handsome if she were on the court.

The eight water gang members who followed behind were all stunned. The boss rushed forward, but was killed in one move. He was almost thrown into the ground like an onion. How could he fight? It was obvious at a glance that they were not of the same level.

But Zhu Yunliang was defeated so quickly that they didn't have time to turn their horses around and escape.

Ji Jianming and Shen Lian, together with several other masters from the Imperial Palace, immediately rode their horses to catch up upon seeing this. They charged into the main force of the Bashui Gang like sharp knives, and those gang disciples whose martial arts skills were not yet at the grandmaster level were instantly knocked to the ground.

The people Zhao Wumian brought with him were all masters, and beating them was not much different from chopping melons and vegetables. Although Zhu Yunliang also brought a few masters with him, it was just a matter of moves for Zhao Wumian. Within a few breaths, the entire Eight Water Gang was covered, and the whole place was filled with wailing.

Wei Hetong, who was riding a horse not far away, was almost scared to death. He originally had some doubts in his heart, but now he saw that the young man in blue must be Wei Ming Hou... Apart from him, who else could fight so well?

Wei Hetong's own strength was considered quite good, and he was on par with Zhu Yunliang. However, Zhu Yunliang was defeated so cleanly, so there was naturally no need for him to say much. Therefore, after confirming Zhao Wumian's identity, Wei Hetong immediately turned his horse around and prepared to retreat.

He didn't want to follow him in the first place, but he was afraid that if he didn't follow, he would miss some valuable information. In addition, the more he followed, the more he felt that this man didn't look like Wei Ming Hou. After all, if he was really Wei Ming Hou, why didn't he say a word when Zhu Yunliang scolded him all the way? Was he that good-tempered?
Wei Hetong probably couldn't have imagined that Zhao Wumian specifically ran to the open area just to confirm whether there were any suspicious people like him.

He had just turned his horse's head when he felt a chill on his back. A sharp whistle suddenly came from behind him. Before he could react, he heard a "puff" and a saber was stabbed into the horse's belly under his crotch.

Plop————

Wei Hetong fell down immediately, but his reaction was also very fast. He raised his hand and slapped the ground hard, then turned over easily after landing. He looked up and was instantly heartbroken to see two people covered in blood, riding tall horses and rushing towards him.

Of course, Zhao Wumian would not let him go so easily. He threw his saber to drag him down, and asked Ji Jianming and Shen Lian to catch him. He then rode his horse to where Zhu Yunliang was lying on the ground, his life or death unknown. Mu Lier was sitting in the front of the carriage, holding the reins and following him.

After those two punches, Zhu Yunliang's shoulders sank a little, blood foam oozed from his mouth, and he couldn't get up for a while.

Zhao Wumian got off his horse and smiled faintly, "Who is the rat?"

"Ahem... I've fallen into your hands today. I've lost. I'm just a coward..."

Zhu Yunliang coughed up some blood, his face flushed, and he tried to get up, but his arms were powerless. He was so young, yet so strong, and he was a man, and he traveled by water. It was obvious that he must be Zhao Wumian. So Zhu Yunliang's eyes became more fierce, "Zhao Wumian... a dignified Marquis of Weiming, hiding his head and showing his tail, what kind of hero is he..."

Zhao Wumian brushed off the dust on his blue shirt, threw down the saber in his hand, and sneered, "There's no point in saying these harsh words. You're risking being abandoned by the prefect to make money at the port. You can't be so short-sighted. What's your purpose? Can you tell me directly? Give me a straight answer."

"He has a rift with the prefect. If he accumulates wealth like this, it will attract the emperor's attention and he will send someone to investigate. I can then secretly release evidence and bring him down."

"What gap?"

"The spoils are unevenly divided."

"Is the prefect a corrupt official?"

"Yes."

"How many years have you been greedy?"

"ten years."

Zhao Wumian tilted his head to look at him, "If he could be corrupt for ten years, he must have bribed everyone from the top to the bottom, otherwise he would have been arrested long ago. You are also a bully in Chang'an, how could he not share the spoils equally with you? This lie is really treating the prefect as a fool."

Zhu Yunliang paused for a moment, then smiled bitterly, "Not only is the spoils not evenly distributed, there's also some personal vendetta. He slept with my wife..."

Mu Lier got off the carriage and said, "Boss Zhu, I have heard a lot about you. You have changed more than a dozen wives in just two years... You are such a person, do you still care about these things? Stop telling lies and tell the truth, so that I won't send you to the Detective Department to be tortured."

Zhu Yunliang glanced at Mu Lier and recognized her identity.

He withdrew his gaze, remained silent, and decided to remain silent.

At this time, Ji Jianming came riding over with Wei Hetong in his arms, raised his hand and threw him to the ground, rolling him a few times, and said:

"My Lord, I have already inquired about this person's identity. He is Wei Hetong, the leader of the Jinsha Gang in Shu. The reason he came here is because a guy named Shi Shoujin approached him a few days ago and said that you would get off the ship in Chang'an, so he waited here to test the waters."

Wei Hetong coughed up blood and nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

"My Lord! We in the Jinsha Gang have never thought of harming you! Although I have made a lot of money following Yangshe Congyun in recent years and can be considered his subordinate, you also know the rules of the martial arts world. We will follow whoever is the leader of Shu. As for how loyal I am to Yangshe Congyun, that is definitely not the case. On the contrary, I have had a dream since I was a child to work for the court and devote my life to Dali..."

Before he could finish his words, Ji Jianming kicked him in the stomach, "Don't talk so much nonsense, just answer whatever the Marquis asks."

"Shi Shoujin?" Zhao Wumian looked at Wei Hetong. This was the first time he had heard of this name. "Tell me more about it."

Wei Hetong quickly told everything that happened that night. A real man can bend and stretch, and it is better for him to surrender and save his life after falling into Zhao Wumian's hands.

The Queen Mother lifted her skirt with one hand and got off the carriage. Upon hearing this, she looked at Zhao Wumian and said:

"I have also heard of Shi Shoujin. He used to work in the East Palace as a eunuch. About eight or nine years ago, he saved enough money to redeem himself. He has been missing since leaving the palace. Now that I think about it, I am afraid he is a member of Dongyan. The reason he left the palace was because he was sent out by Luo Shuzhi to do some work."

This palace? When Wei Hetong heard this self-proclaimed title, he was stunned. He looked up at the Queen Mother, and then at Zhao Wumian. His eyes were filled with astonishment. How could this Weiming Marquis come to Shu to challenge the Sword Master and bring the Queen Mother out of the palace?
As the Queen Mother, is it possible for her to leave the palace so easily?
However, Wei Hetong knew why Zhao Wumian did not announce his name... He had to escort the Queen Mother, so it would be inappropriate to be ostentatious, and it was normal to travel in a low-key manner.

Therefore, he glanced at the Queen Mother and quickly lowered his eyes, pretending that he had seen nothing and guessed nothing, and just thought that this woman was an ordinary female member brought out by Marquis Weiming.

When Zhu Yunliang heard Shi Shoujin's name, his eyes moved, showing a bit of surprise, and then he glanced coldly at Wei Hetong.
"Idiot, you went into battle yourself to gather intelligence, that's fine, but you were actually caught in the end... You are such a loser, I actually thought you were a hero before, I was wrong."

Shu and Qin are not far from each other. As both of them are leaders of the Cao Gang, they must know each other. They have cooperated due to different circumstances and have also had conflicts. Over the years, they can be considered both enemies and friends.

But this is not Wei Hetong's fault. How could he know that Zhao Wumian would be so cautious? He ran to an open area, leaving him nowhere to hide, before taking action.

Wei Hetong rolled his eyes and sneered, "I'm not like you, who offended someone you shouldn't have offended. I am loyal to the Marquis and will answer any questions you have."

The two men lay on the ground, talking to each other, which made Ji Jianming's eyes twitch. He kicked one of them before they quieted down.

Zhao Wumian was slightly surprised and looked at the Queen Mother, "Nan'er still remembers the eunuch of the East Palace eight or nine years ago?"

Nan'er?

Wei Hetong looked at Zhao Wumian blankly, then reacted and quickly lowered his eyes.

Hiss~ Don’t think about it too much, don’t think about it too much.

This can't be considered a royal secret. Whoever knows it will die.

The Queen Mother snorted, "If you stay there for ten years, your life will remain the same every day. You won't even be able to count the bricks used to build the harem, let alone remember the names of the people in the palace."

The Queen Mother said this lightly, but the meaning behind it really made people feel a little pitiful.

Zhao Wumian couldn't help but comfort her, "I will definitely take Nan'er out of the palace to play more often in the future."

The Queen Mother smiled immediately, but because there were outsiders present, she did not say anything to tease Zhao Wumian, and her every move maintained the demeanor and dignity of a Queen Mother.

Zhao Wumian retracted his gaze and glanced at Zhu Yunliang, "It seems that the remaining Dongyan faction is currently led by Shi Shoujin... You are also Dongyan, right?"

Zhu Yunliang snorted coldly and remained silent.

He hoped that Zhao Wumian would just fight him head-on. Anyway, his mission was to delay Zhao Wumian. However, Zhao Wumian obviously would not do as he wished. Dong Yan was not worth his time at the moment.

Dong Yan doesn't have any martial arts master at the moment. If she wants to avenge Luo Shuzhi, the only way she can do is to stir up trouble everywhere, trying to drive away the wolves and tigers and kill people with borrowed knives.

Currently in Shu, there are two most powerful martial arts masters, one is the sword master Yangshe Congyun, and the other is the head of the Tang family, Tang Weiyu... Zhao Wumian had originally planned to pay a visit to these two people.

There is no need to say much about the Sword Master. Tang Weiyu and Zhao Wumian had met once before in Changshan. He was considered a relatively pure man of the world. Zhao Wumian actually admired him very much. However, Tang Weiyu had a son who was expelled from home and joined the Huanzhen Pavilion, where he was killed by Zhao Wumian.

With this grudge, a fight is inevitable in the future, so Zhao Wumian is not afraid. The only thing he needs to worry about is whether Shi Shoujin will find another martial arts master from somewhere...

Zhao Wumian pondered for a while and looked at Ji Jianming, "After you have finished questioning, take them all to the Chang'an Detective Department and interrogate them thoroughly. If you have any information, contact me through the Shudi Detective Department."

Ji Jianming nodded slightly. His nickname was 'General Sun' and he was in charge of interrogation. He was a good hand at it. Zhao Wumian was able to keep him by his side and leave professional matters to professionals.

Zhu Yunliang was a little surprised. No, I belong to Dongyan? You don't even want to deal with it yourself? You just throw me to your men?
Zhao Wumian looked at Wei Hetong, pondered for a moment, and thought that as the leader of the first Cao Gang in Shu, this guy was obviously a local tyrant. It would be nice to take him along as a human know-it-all, so he raised his hand and said, "Feed him some cartilage pills, tie him up and take him away."

Wei Hetong blinked his eyes, but he was ecstatic. He kowtowed to Zhao Wumian several times on the spot, "My Lord, are you going to use me? Don't worry! I will definitely tell you everything I know!"

If Zhao Wumian can be brought along with him, that means he won't have to die for a while... It's better to live a miserable life than to die. Isn't it more promising to follow Wei Minghou than to be a dog for Yangshe Congyun?
So the troops were divided into two groups. Ji Jianming took Zhu Yunliang back to Chang'an, while Zhao Wumian and others tied up Wei Hetong and continued to rush to Shu. Before leaving, Zhao Wumian wrote a letter and asked Ji Jianming to send it to the capital.

The letter didn't actually say much, only that the corrupt officials in Chang'an were deeply rooted, and it would be best if they could be eradicated, but he currently didn't have the time and energy to do so. He hoped that Luo Chaoyan could send someone from the central government. It just so happened that Ji Jianming had captured Zhu Yunliang alive. This guy must have a lot of evidence and black material in his hands over the years, so as long as he was taken to the Detective Department and interrogated strictly, there would always be gains.

However, after writing this, Zhao Wumian thought about it and added a few more sentences at the end.

[I am writing this letter by the Wei River. The scenery here is very beautiful. I heard that the emperor's hometown is in Qin, but it has been so long that I don't know exactly where it is.]

[I am just a passer-by in Qin today, and I come and go in a hurry. I hope I can revisit the old place with His Majesty one day. ]

[But now I have to go to Shu to see the giant pandas. ]

After receiving the letter, Luo Chaoyan read it over and over again, mainly reading the last three sentences. After reading it over and over again for more than ten times, she threw it into the stove in front of the table and burned it, whispering:

"It's all business, just three sentences... You really don't understand romance."

Seven days later, the person sent by Luo Chaoyan arrived in Chang'an. It was none other than the Grand Marshal Jiang Benzhen.

The Jiang family was full of loyal and brave people, more than a dozen of them, but only a few Miao people were left after the death. Although the old man was old, he had lived for so long that he was adept at dealing with these corrupt officials.

There was no need for Zhu Yunliang to hide the dirty laundry of the prefect, so he confessed it all in a few words. When the court officials arrived, Ji Jianming kicked open the prefect's door with his horse and sword.

He held up the knife and looked at the stunned prefect, grinning, "I am following the order of Marquis Weiming to demand the prefect's head on behalf of the people of Chang'an."

Zhao Wumian is not a professional in punishing corrupt officials, but there are professionals who can handle it.

In fact, we are not afraid of these people being greedy, but we are afraid of being greedy and not doing anything... But now that we know that he is greedy, we should not turn a blind eye to it.

Later, this incident became an anecdote among the people. Wei Minghou traveled to Shu and fought against the corrupt officials in Chang'an with his wits.

But that will all be a hundred years later.

(End of this chapter)