Chapter 536 Step on three boats

In the morning, Zhongnan Mountain shrouded in the summer morning glow, the clouds steamed with fog, butterflies danced cranes, the bells of several Taoist temples were melodious, and the Sanskrit sound was chanted in the Buddhist temple.

It's like a fairyland in the sky.

Li Ke's face was covered with a messy circle of whiskers, wearing a star-hole bamboo hat and a patched short skirt. The lower body was a pair of white green cloth trousers. The legs of the trousers were rolled up to the knees, revealing half of the calves stained with dust.

At this moment, he is sitting in an ox cart, wearing a sweat towel, and holding a shiny firewood knife in his hand. Looking left and right, he was a woodcutter who cut firewood in the morning.

In front of him, Zhao Chong also dressed in a similar dress. He waved a hemp rope whip in his hand holding a black leather buffalo pulling a cart. While walking freely, he also let go of his thick voice and sang a woodcutter song.

Li Ke sat on the ox cart, looked at Zhao Chong a few times, and couldn't help shaking his head and laughing.

In the past few days after getting out of danger from Anding County, he has been following Zhao Chong, crossing the state and county along the way, and doing all kinds of disguises. Either pretending to be a business master and servant, or pretending to be a fisherman and picker, Li Ke even pretended to be a woman once, which is true and false.

As soon as he arrived at the customs, Zhao Chong took many of these clothes in a ghostly manner. The two pretended to be the last southern woodcutter and drove the ox cart to the mountain.

Along the way, Zhao Chong went up to the mountain to sing songs, pretended to be like something, and even imitated dialects in many places. He followed his father to walk around the world at the age of ten. At the age of 16, he began to lead the green forest bandits in Jingxiang Waterway for more than 20 years. His vigilance, agility, insight and all kinds of wonderful methods made Li Ke amazed.

"Brother Zhao, it's a pity that people like you don't use it." Li Ke sat on the ox cart and smiled.

"I said, Brother Li, brother, what I'm doing now, isn't it a big deal? Haha!" Zhao Chong laughed loudly, and his majestic voice shocked the birds in the forest.

Seeing that the mountains were quiet and empty, Li Ke asked in a low voice, "Why do we go to the final mountain?"

"Don't ask too much. You'll know later." Zhao Chong turned around alertly and continued to sing his folk songs.

Li Ke didn't say much. He sat on the ox cart and followed Zhao Chong all the way.

Along the way, Zhao Chong did not answer any questions from Li Ke. Just repeatedly emphasize one point - "Don't worry, I will definitely not hurt you."

Li Ke was worried that if he had harmed me, I would have been a dead body. If this life was picked up, just believe him!

In this way, the two of them disguised themselves and sneaked in hiding, all the way from Jingzhou to Zhongnan Mountain, which is only one step away from Chang'an.

Looking into the distance, you can faintly see the statue of a demon girl on the top of Zhongnan Mountain. Li Ke involuntarily thought of Qin Mubai and said secretly: Along the way, I occasionally heard rumors about the market that Kansai Qin Mubai wanted to rebel... Anyway, I don't believe this kind of thing. However, what if such a rumor spreads to the court?

Zhao Chong really split two loads of firewood on the mountain and put them on the ox cart, and then folded back halfway up the mountain, crossed into the dense forest, and walked on a rugged mountain path.

After walking for nearly an hour, the ox cart finally stopped in front of an unusually deserted and dilapidated Taoist temple. Zhao Chong came forward and patted the door. A moment later, a little Taoist boy came out. When he saw Zhao Chong, he said, "Lao Zhao sent Chaihe again. Please come in."

"It's here." Zhao Chong turned around and smiled at Li Ke, "Quickly, bring the ox cart in, unload the firewood and get the reward money."

"Okay, Brother Zhao." Li Ke smiled and jumped off the ox cart and led the ox cart into the Taoist temple until the woodshed in the backyard.

"Your Highness, it's finally safe here." Zhao Chong dusted the plaster on his body and bowed to Li Ke, "Please follow me."

"Good." Li Ke nodded and secretly expected: It's finally time to solve many mysteries!

Zhao Chong led Li Ke through the Taoist temple for a few steps and entered a secluded single room. The furnishings in the room are quite simple, with a few futons, a bed, a niche, a table and a few tea, that's all.

"It's a hard journey. Your Highness will rest here for two days." Zhao Chong said.

Li Ke looked around, and there were no other idle people, and there were no eye-catching discoveries. So he wondered, "You're not going to say anything to me? Or let me meet someone?"

Zhao Chong smiled and said, "Don't worry, you will know what you should know sooner or later; the people who should see you will come to see you sooner or later. It's just getting out of trouble. Why should Your Highness be anxious?

"It's good." Li Ke didn't say much. He sat down on the couch and said, "I'm really tired. I'll have a full sleep."

"Your Highness has a rest. Zhao came out to do something and will come back immediately. Three meals a day are served by a Taoist. Zhao Chong said, "Please don't walk around or leave the Taoist temple. Remember."

"Don't worry."

Zhao Chong left. Li Ke lay on his arms with his headrest. Looking at the old gray and white roof, he was worried and said to himself: I don't know what's going on with Yin Yang? And those guards are mostly out of their lives. As expected, the news has already spread to Chang'an. Now I don't see people or death, but I don't see corpses. My father and mother are in a hurry. How should I be? What will happen to the chaos in the court?

Li Ke, now I really want to enter Chang'an City, at least it's good to let my parents feel at home. But if he can't bear it, he will make a big plan. Now he knows very little about the situation in the outside world, and he is in danger. Let's listen to Zhao Chong's arrangement!

The next evening, Zhao Chong just came back and was still dressed as a woodcutter.

As soon as Zhao Chong entered the house, Li Ke asked him, "How's Chang'an?"

"Chang'an?" Zhao Chong smiled and sat down, poured tea to drink, and said, "I didn't go to Chang'an."

"So where have you been?"

"Go to see my master and report your death." Zhao Chong said with a detering smile.

"What?" Li Ke was shocked.

"Your Highness, think about it, I was ordered to intercept you. Don't you need to give an exposition to the master now?" Zhao Chong laughed.

"So your master... have you ever believed it?"

"If you believe it, you have to believe it; if you don't believe it, you have to believe it." Zhao Chong was playing with the teacup.

"I'm curious..."

"Do you want to know who my master is?"

"Not bad."

Zhao Chong got up and walked to the table where Li Ke was sitting and sat down. "It's a long story. Zhao, there is not only one master.

"How many are there?"

"It's not too much, just three or four!"

"..." Li Ke was stunned and speechless.

"Haha!" Zhao Chong laughed and said, "As the saying goes, good birds choose wood and virtuous ministers. Although Zhao is not a good person, he also understands this truth. Therefore, although there are many of my masters, there is only one that is really worthy of Zhao's loyalty.

Li Ke's eyes were slightly light, "You don't mean to say that that person... is my father, right?"

"Wow! Why don't you say that Your Highness is smart? Zhao Chong smiled and nodded, "That's right. One of my masters is your father, today's emperor. However, I have only seen him in two aspects all the time. After all, one is a death row prisoner who should have been executed long ago, and the other is the real dragon emperor. Whether I want to see him or he wants to see me, it's inconvenient.

"What about your other master?" Li Ke asked, "Can you tell me?"

"Yes!" Zhao Chong smiled indifferently and said cheerfully, "Anyway, sooner or later, you have to let Your Highness know the truth. It doesn't matter if it's a minute earlier. But before I tell you these things, Zhao has a request.

"Please speak."

"If his Highness gets his will, Zhao will not ask you to repay your kindness, but please let Zhao have a free life path." Zhao Chong said.

Li Ke frowned and nodded, "I promise you."

"Your Highness is cheerful." Zhao Chong showed a smile, "People who can become confidants and friends with Qin Mubai should also be trustworthy. So good, now Zhao knows everything. Your Highness, may I ask you!"

Li Ke took a deep breath and said, "I want to know who sent you to intercept me?"

"D. Yu Shi, Wei Ting." Zhao Chong said, "He is one of my masters. He is also my direct lifesaver."

"Wei Ting? Wei Haochen? ...There should be a connection between the two, right?" Li Ke was not too surprised and said, "If I remember correctly, Wei Ting is still the father-in-law of Li You, the king of Qi. When Li You was involved in a rebellion, he was once dismissed. Later, he defected to his fourth brother, the King of Wei, and with the help of the King of Wei, he returned to the court and took charge of the imperial history platform. Shouldn't it be that he saved you when he stood in the way of Dr. Ren Yushi?"

"Not bad."

"But at that time, the water ghost case had already passed for a long time, and Li You rebelled! In terms of time, it's not right!"

Zhao Chong smiled and said, "Your Highness is so careless. Did you forget that death row prisoners are not beheaded until after autumn? Moreover, the Xiangzhou water ghost case involves almost 60% of the officials in Jingxiang, and it is also related to Chang'an Weidu. In such a big case, I don't know how many people in the court are active, begging for mercy and obstructing. After more than three months of trial, the case has not been completely closed. It was during this period that Zhao suddenly became a piece of glutton. In addition to Wei Ting, the imperial historian who wants to save his nephew, there are also many people who have ghosts to trick Zhao, either to save Zhao's life, or to kill Zhao as soon as possible.

"What kind of people are there?" Li Ke frowned and asked.

Zhao Chong said with a smile, "Zhao has long put life and death aside. It doesn't matter if he dies. But seeing so many people interested in Zhao, Zhao wanted to live for a few more days. Therefore, Zhao volunteered for three masters one after another, the first of which was Wei Ting. He is a doctor of Yushi, and Zhao has been interrogated back and forth by Dali Temple and Yushitai, and has been imprisoned in these two places. Wei Ting said that he could save my life with the trick of getting Jin Chan out of the shell, but the premise was that I could hide and confess some of Wei Haochen's criminal evidence to reduce Wei Haochen's guilt.

"Did you agree?"

"Not only promised, but also did it truthfully." Zhao Chong smiled and said, "Because Zhao knows that no matter what kind of argument Zhao does, Wei Xiaochen and Du Chengyuan will definitely die. Because there are people who are bigger than Wei, and they have to die!"

"Who is it?"

"My second master, that is... your good fourth brother, Your Highness the King of Wei." Zhao Chong smiled more and more meaningfully and said, "In the view of the King of Wei, Wei Xiaochen and Du Chengyuan are extremely inconspicuous little roles. But these two have colluded with Wei Ting and many ministers under his command. I don't know how many people said to the king of Wei that they wanted the two to die as soon as possible. The king of Wei did not want to be implicated by this, so Wei and Du were bound to die. At the same time, Zhao is just a green forest bandit head who does not have a deep connection with the people of the government. Therefore, Zhao's life and death are less concerned. But the king of Wei really hopes that I can continue to live. Does Your Highness know why?

Li Ke frowned and said, "I once heard Qin Mubai say that the king of Wei once secretly pulled the cage with one arm and rode Zhang Tong. His intention was nothing more than asking him to reveal some of my and Qin Mubai's in Xiangzhou, 'unspeakable private evidence', to falsely accuse us. This was born out of nothing. Zhang Tong was also very righteous. He refused and fled. Is that the intention of the King of Wei to save you?

"To be more specific, in addition to wanting me to expose your criminal evidence, he also wants to know the secret of the treasure of Emperor Yang's Mausoleum." Zhao Chong laughed again, "In fact, the west river is the tomb of Emperor Yang. I didn't know it before. But I will take this opportunity to live my life.

"So that's it..." Li Ke suddenly realized and nodded. "In this way, even if Wei Ting wants to go back on his promise and doesn't save you, it won't get in the face of the king of Wei and has to be saved. Even if he wants to kill you afterwards, he doesn't dare to offend the king of Wei for this!"

"That's right." Zhao Chong laughed and said, "Wei Ting and the king of Wei are pregnant with ghosts. Zhao Chong happens to be between the two of them, so he can survive. In fact, all this is a coincidence. If your father hadn't come to inquire about the case in person and told me that you and Qin Mubai had found the Yang Emperor's Mausoleum in the West River Trough and found the National Jade seal, Zhao Chong would not have had this plan in his heart. When the king of Wei sent someone to my secret meeting, he just let me bite back and accuse you and Qin Mubai. At that time, Zhao Yilai would not agree. Second, even if he was willing to agree, there was no way to sue this false accusation, because Zhao didn't know anything about you at all. However, at that time, I told the king of Wei that in fact, in addition to the national jade seal, there was also a secret treasure in the imperial mausoleum. In addition to the wealth of gold and silver, there is also the imperial dragon spirit passed down from generation to generation! And these are things that you and Qin Mubai have not found or can't find. Only Zhao knows! - In this way, Zhao survived. Under the secret order of the King of Wei, it has been three years since the recruitment of Lvlin Haojie to find the treasure here.

"Lao Si, your mind is so wrong! Even if there is an emperor's dragon spirit, it should not belong to him!" Li Ke was a little annoyed and punched on the table.

"I also know that King Wei is not a good person. So I quickly betrayed him. Zhao Chong smiled very funnyly and said, "In the past, the emperor came to patrol the prisoners in person as usual, and I saw him for the second time. In fact, the first time Your Majesty came to see me, I found that he intended to pardon me. The reason, I think it's probably because I indirectly helped him find the national jade seal, and he loves the house very much. But at that time, he couldn't open his mouth because of the justice of the law. But this time he came to patrol the prisoners. Zhao knew that it was my last chance to survive. I will have no reservations about the matter between Wei Ting and King Wei to your majesty... Your Highness should be able to think of the result of the matter."

"After that, my father made a plan and let Wei Ting use the golden cicada to escape the shell and save your life?" Li Ke was surprised and said, "From then on, you have also become the eyeliner of your father's ambush with Wei Ting and the king of Wei?"

"Your Highness, you are really wise!" Zhao Chong smiled and said, "That's right. Usually, Zhao is Wei Ting's eagle and dog minions; secretly, Zhao recruits Lvlin Haojie to help the king of Wei find the treasure, and occasionally does some things such as coercion, kidnapping, killing and killing. In fact, Zhao is the confidant of the emperor, lurking beside Wei Ting and the king of Wei. At the critical moment, he will fight back - just like today's event, Zhao Chong saves the King of Wu!"

"So that's it..." Li Ke took a long breath and finally realized. Suddenly, he was shocked and said, "Did you tell my father in advance about saving me?"

"No." Zhao Chong shook his head, "For the first time, the incident suddenly failed to repay. Second, His Majesty said that he would never see me again, but only asked me to help him secretly. If there is no big event or his will, I can't reveal my identity.

"Then my father and mother really don't know anything about it. Aren't they anxious and worried?" Li Ke's thick eyebrows were locked, and his face was full of sadness.

"Your Highness, don't you want to ask, who sent me to kill you?" Zhao Chong said.

"Isn't it Wei Ting and King Wei?" Li Ke was a little puzzled.

"Oh--" Zhao Chong smiled deperyly, "If I say it, you won't believe it. In fact, it's Wei Ting who wants to kill you; but it's the King of Wei who wants to save you!"