Brocade tears

Guo Dayou was pale and precariously riding on his horse, bumping all the way north along the city wall and moat.Half of his body was already stained red with blood, and his right arm was hanging limply by his side. He might have been dislocated. If it was serious, he might have injured his tendons. It is not yet known whether he has injured his bones.What's more serious is that a big gash was cut on his right shoulder by Ma Qiang, bleeding profusely.He tore off the entire right sleeve and tied it tightly around his shoulder to stop the bleeding temporarily.At this moment, he only had one thought, to find Meng Kuang and the others.If Meng Kuang and others just confessed outside the city of Nanjing that he has been plotting to wipe out the dynasty for more than ten years, he absolutely cannot allow this to happen.

He was too careless, he should have considered the possibility of an ambush before entering Nanjing City, but he was disturbed by other things, and he didn't think about it for a while, so he entered the city like this.He was also too confident, thinking that no one would know their whereabouts this way by boat, and the speed was so fast that even if they wanted to catch up, they would not be able to catch up.Most of these people were sent by Lu Wang to arrest Bai Yuyin, but he underestimated Bai Yuyin's status in Lu Wang's heart, and also underestimated the mobility of Lu Wang's subordinates.

The horse under the seat was his own horse. Fortunately, he didn't run far away, and ran back loyally to lick his wound.It took him a lot of effort to get on the horse, and he rode northward all the way, only to see the remnants of the fierce battle on the side of the road.Along the city wall of Chaoyangmen, a road was built along the moat. There were almost no residential buildings on the periphery of the road, and there were patches of woodland. It leads directly to Chaoyang Gate, and intersects with the road along the moat. It is also the road where Guo Dayou, Meng Kuang and others encountered the black armored knight blocking the way.Farmhouses and villages will only appear about five miles away from the forest land. This is because the Nanjing Imperial City is where the Chaoyang Gate enters the city, and the farmhouses in the outer fields must be kept away for three houses to show respect.Moreover, this is also the gateway for the introduction of military and political quick reports, and the road outside the city is also extremely important.

Therefore, no matter driving into the city or driving along the river, there are not many pedestrians on the road. Even if there are, they are the cars of respected officials or the chariots of wealthy people.In the east of Nanjing City, the imperial city, Xiaoling Mausoleum, and the Great Sacrificial Altar are gathered. They are all important places in the country, and there are very few residential buildings.Most of the people in the outer city live in the south, north and west of the city. Even the people living in the east usually don’t enter the inner city through the Chaoyang Gate on the east, but instead enter the city through the Tongji Gate on the south.

Coincidentally today, I don't know if this group of gangsters drove them away deliberately, but there was not a single pedestrian on the road, and there were no chariots and horses passing by. Guo Dayou walked all the way, and he could see the battlefield left after the fierce battle, and there were dead bodies There was no one to pick them up for the time being, and some half-dead fell to the ground and couldn't get up. They were fatally wounded, and blood flowed all over the ground.There was still a pile of arrows on the ground, and many weapons dropped by the pursuers, including the horse spear, were also discarded by the roadside, but the black armored knight was nowhere to be seen.Guo Dayou ignored those half-dead people, he was powerless and unnecessary to interrogate them, let alone take the effort to kill them.Passed by him directly and continued to drive north.

When he approached the fire gate, he could vaguely see the waves of the lake in front of him, and there was a noise from there. There were many people and horses by the lake, shouting at each other, as if they were searching for something.Guo Dayou didn't dare to approach, so he got off the horse and led the horse into the woods beside him to cover and observe.He could hear the voices of those people shouting intermittently:

"……Ran?"

"It's not far! There are several women in the car, they must be by the lake, search!"

Guo Dayou didn't know what happened, so he had to venture forward for a certain distance, and finally he could see clearly that a carriage ran aground on the edge of the lake. Unable to stand up, most of the horse's body was soaked in the lake water, so it could only poke the horse's head out of the lake, whining rhythmically.

The carriage was their carriage, and of course the carriage was empty at this time.The three pursued bandits fell into the lake and stood in the mud in the shallow water by the lake, trying to pull the carriage out of the mud.Guo Dayou was startled when the carriage fell into the lake at first, and then he became suspicious. He didn't know what happened at that time, and the carriage lost control and fell into the lake.Then he carefully observed the terrain around the fire gate, and suddenly understood the reason for the fall into the lake. It seemed that it was caused by the fact that the carriage was driving at a high speed and had no time to turn.After all, Meng Kuang had never been to Nanjing before, he was not familiar with the terrain of Nanjing City, and he couldn't react in a hurry, so the accident happened.

Guo Dayou looked at the closed Taipingmen gate in the twilight, and suddenly felt rejoicing. Meng Kuang's carriage fell into the lake. It seemed to be a disaster on the outside, but in fact it was a blessing in disguise.If they had successfully entered the city at that time, I don't know what would have happened at this time.Judging from Guo Dayou's current observations, there may be people deployed by King Lu in ambush in this city, not only Chaoyang Gate and Taiping Gate are full of ambushes, but there may be eyeliners at each city gate. .Once Meng Kuang and others broke into the city, they would probably become shackles.However, King Lu's manpower should be limited. Nanjing City is not completely under his control. His power can at most control these two city gates for his use. That's why he hopes to arrest people outside the city. Instead of entering the city and spreading the word about it.

There was a sharp stabbing pain in his shoulder, and half of Guo Dayou's body was cold due to excessive blood loss.Now that he knew that Meng Kuang had taken people away from being chased, he was temporarily relieved.Right now he had to think about himself, he had to find a place to save himself, if he continued to lose blood like this, he might die.You have to save your life first, and then go find Meng Kuang and others after recuperating.He still has to try to move rescuers and get in touch with his old friends in Nanjing...

He braced himself up and went back to lead the horse, and quickly disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

……

The night was dark, and the east wind was gradually picking up, wrinkling the water of the lake, causing rustling sounds from the woods on the shore.Although the weather is hot, you can still feel a little cold after nightfall. On the long embankment beside the lake, there are several torches flickering back and forth.

Meng Kuang stared at the torch flowing on the embankment in the distance, the orange flame danced in her dark eyes, reflecting the light of determination.Behind her, Sui'er, Bai Yuyin, Meng Yan, Lu Jingshi, and Han Jiaer were all unharmed, but they were all soaked from swimming in the lake, and they were huddled behind her trembling silently.

At this time, they were in a channel, which should be a certain gate of Houhu Lake. At this time, no water came in. Although the channel was wet, it could still stay.They hide in this tunnel, if the pursuers don't expect them to come in, they should be safe for the time being.But Meng Kuang was worried, she had to keep an eye on the situation outside.

After the carriage fell into the lake, Meng Kuang was injured. Her ankle was twisted, and her arm was strained due to excessive force. She couldn't make a fist for a long time, and her arm was always in spasm.In addition to jumping off the car and hitting the black armored knight with her knee, she felt constant pain in her right knee, which seemed to be damaged.But she still insisted, let everyone in the car get out of the car immediately, took the luggage that she could get at hand, and immediately dived into the lake to hide.

Among Meng Kuang and his party, except for Meng Kuang himself and Sui Er, no one else knew how to swim. Everyone was very nervous and afraid in the water. In addition, when they fell into the lake and turned over, everyone was more or less injured. It is even more difficult to move.But in order to escape for their lives, they must overcome all difficulties at this time.Meng Kuang first took a group of people to hide in the reeds by the lake, and folded the reed poles for use as a breathing tube when diving into the water.Under the cover of reeds and patches of lotus leaves, they groped along the lakeside to the west bit by bit, stepping on the lake mud with one deep foot and one shallow foot, and moved away from the evening to the night when it was completely dark. I didn't move anymore, and finally found a place to hide temporarily like the gate culvert.

Gradually, Meng Kuang couldn't hold on any longer, and sat slumped on the edge of the culvert, observing the situation outside while recovering his strength.The clothes on their bodies were all wet, and even the clothes in the few bags they grabbed from the car were wet by the lake water, and none of the items in the bags were spared.The culvert was dark and silent, only the faint breathing of a few people could be heard.Meng Ai helped her sister deal with a sprained ankle and a strained arm, but this injury could not be relieved without a special plaster for a while. Dropped to the enemy.There is only one bottle of asthma-relieving pills left in Meng Ai's whole body. If he does not get timely supplies, Meng Ai's life will be in danger if he gets sick.At this time, she was already on the verge of panting due to being frightened by the cold. She took needles from the needle bag she carried with her and touched a few large acupoints on her chest to temporarily stabilize her symptoms.Han Jia'er kept rubbing her back to warm her up, and Meng Yan's chest and abdomen must be warm.

Sui'er leaned over to Meng Kuang's side and helped her gently massage the strained arm muscles. The bursts of tingling pain tortured Meng Kuang, but she didn't say a word.Meng Kuang knew that Sui'er still had menstruation, but after swimming in the water for so long, his whole body was shaking from the cold.She was so distressed that she tried her best to hug her body with her unstrained left arm, wrapping her in her arms as much as possible to warm her body.Sui Er didn't look worried or afraid at all, as if as long as Meng Kuang was by her side, she would have endless courage and strength.She was thinking about something silently at this moment, and Meng Kuang felt that she might soon come up with an idea to solve the current predicament.

"I'm sorry... I'm really... sorry..." After an unknown amount of time, Bai Yuyin's sobs could be heard in the darkness. The tragic situation of her companions finally broke her down. The chasing soldiers killed everyone to this field.

"Oh, Miss Bai, it's not your fault, don't blame yourself." Lu Jingshi who was on the side hurriedly comforted.

"Yeah, sister Bai... I can't blame you." Meng Yan also said.

"These pursuers are not completely sure that they are here to arrest you. Even if they are, they are deceiving people too much. We all understand people, so how could they blame you?" Way, we have to find a way to enter the city, even if we can't enter the city, we still need to find someone who can temporarily board and hide, and we can't stay here all the time. Second sister-in-law, you are from Nanjing, do you know where we can go now Take refuge?"

Bai Yuyin pursed her lips, wiped away her tears, swallowed her tears, and said, "There is a family with a single surname in the city. They made good friends with my father in the past. After my family was in trouble, they have never left them and cared for me very much. .His family is a Confucian businessman. If he is still in Nanjing, he can take refuge in him. But...we have to find a way to enter the city first."

"Do you have no acquaintances in the outer city?" Meng Kuang asked.

Bai Yuyin shook her head: "I grew up in the city since I was a child, and I lived in a boudoir until I was ten years old. I rarely had contact with people from outside the city. In the past, several long-term workers and servants in my family lived in the outer city, but... my family was in trouble and the tree fell down. The hozen are scattered, and I don't know where they live now."

Meng Kuang sighed softly.

"There should be pursuers in the city, and the behind-the-scenes commander is a very powerful person, but it should still be difficult for him to control the whole city, otherwise he will wait for us to enter the city and then come to the urn, which is more convenient and safe, rather than directly chasing and intercepting outside the city. This person is very afraid that the scene of our arrest will be witnessed by people in the city." Sui'er, who had been silent all this time, spoke up, "But in the current situation, it is still hard to say whether the old friends of Sister Bai's family can be counted on. Thirteen Brother, your mother's Zhao family grain company should also be stationed in Nanjing, right?"

Meng Kuang hesitated and said: "Yes, the Zhao family has a grain store and real estate in Nanjing. My second brother lived in the Zhao family's real estate when he was in Nanjing. But I don't want to involve them. I can't confirm whether the other party knows about me right now. Regarding the relationship with the Zhao family, if the people behind the scenes know the identities of me and Zhao's grain business, they will probably go to the Zhao's grain business in the city to arrest people."

"It seems that neither the Shan family nor the Zhao family can go. They are too easy targets." Han Jiaer said.

"Then what should we do?" Lu Jingshi scratched his head in despair.

"If it doesn't work, go to Nanjing Jinyiwei." Meng Yan said.

"No, if it is really King Lu who arrests people, Nanjing Jinyiwei will not be allowed to go there. They are all the sons and daughters of nobles and Fuyins. They are all idle jobs and don't care about things. In essence, they are completely controlled by the emperor's relatives in the court. King Lu can do that." Take control there, if you go there, you're throwing yourself into a trap." Meng Kuang immediately vetoed it.

"What about the government? King Lu of Yingtian Mansion shouldn't be able to completely control it. He wanted to keep the matter of arresting a secret. If he stabbed the government to let more people know, wouldn't it be against his intention?" Bai Yuyin said.

"It's hard to say...it's too risky." Meng Kuang shook his head, "If the current prefect of Yingtian and Lu Wang are in collusion, we are also falling into a trap."

Sui'er was about to speak when suddenly there were rustling footsteps above her head.Meng Kuang tensed up all over, and put his left hand on the dagger, signaling everyone to get up immediately and prepare to retreat and escape.But they never thought that just as they got up, they heard a low-pitched call from above the culvert, which was familiar and kind:

"Xiaoqing, Xiaoyan, it's me, Master! Oh, I found you."

"Master!"

"Luo Daochang?!"

Meng Yan and Meng Kuang were pleasantly surprised.