Chapter 119: Ghost mask covering face, I enter the realm of heaven and man (3.8k)

Hexi.

Kunshan!

This mountain is not far from Taikang City, the most prosperous in Hexi.

Kunshan is towering and magnificent!

As a natural barrier, the cold air coming from the north was blocked, and the north side of the mountain needed cotton clothes to keep out the cold.

South of Kunshan, spring flowers bloom.

This mountain also has a military natural moat. If Northern Wind wants to go south to Hexi of Daqing, it must pass through this pass.

However, the steepness of its mountain road is like a ladder hanging upside down, with only a winding plank road hanging between the cliffs, making it difficult for people and horses to march here, and the consumption of grain and forage is even greater, which is a loss that outweighs the gain.

Along the way, before reaching the territory of Hexi, the military pay on the road is already an astronomical figure.

The loss outweighs the gain!

For many years, Northern Wind has chosen other paths, either passing through the Hulao majestic pass or crossing the Fengling important ferry.

And avoid the difficulty of Kunshan.

There is an old saying, "The road to Kunshan is difficult, more difficult than going to the blue sky."

It tells the steepness of this mountain.

However, in recent years, one person has emerged, making Northern Wind have to rethink the decision of passing through the danger of Kunshan!

Facing the Lu Family Army and Lu Chen, they would rather face Kunshan.

South foot of Kunshan, the vast land of Hexi.

Except for a few low hills scattered at the foot of the mountain, the mountains gradually disappeared, turning into a plain.

The so-called hills are actually small dirt slopes.

There are three riders on a hill.

Looking from afar at a cavalry team composed of hundreds of people, gathered in a group, seemingly looking for something.

The three people on the three riders.

There is an old man holding a tobacco pipe.

There is an old man in brocade.

And a person with a ghost mask covering his face.

The old man holding the tobacco pipe is small in stature, a head shorter than the others on the horse, wearing coarse cloth and linen clothes that are patched, looking ordinary, and revealing a mouthful of black teeth smoked by smoke when he laughs.

The old man is on the horse, smoking dry tobacco, swallowing clouds and fog, looking comfortable!

The old man in brocade is much taller than the old man, with a white face and no beard, a clear and thin face, white eyebrows, and eyes looking at the three hundred cavalry in the distance with some nervousness.

The most eye-catching of the three is the person at the front!

This person is slender!

Wearing light armor, long hair scattered on his shoulders, a terrifying yin and yang ghost mask on his face, unable to distinguish between male and female, looking scary.

Only revealing a pair of clear and beautiful long eyes.

The three looked at the distance of only a hundred feet.

The cavalry team composed of more than three hundred riders.

The old man in brocade frowned, his worry overflowing.

He finally could not hold back his anxiety and said urgently:

"Master, we have gone deep into the enemy territory this time, is it too reckless? Those Hexi mountain bandits, their strength cannot be underestimated, if we encounter an accident..."

The person covering the ghost mask heard this, just turned the horse's head lightly, without saying a word.

The snort of the horse under him was exceptionally clear in this tense atmosphere.

The old man holding the dry tobacco pipe was still in a leisurely manner.

He slowly exhaled the last puff of smoke and smiled comfortably:

"Great Supervisor, don't worry, we are only two hundred miles away from the Taikang camp, once something happens, reinforcements will arrive immediately. As for those Hexi 'bandits', they are just a mob, how can they be compared with the famous reputation of our Qianyuan iron cavalry?"

"'Just'? Two hundred miles..." The old man in brocade smiled bitterly, his tone revealing deep helplessness.

If it were someone else!

The old man in brocade would have scolded him bloody, but this old man who smokes dry tobacco also has an extraordinary status.

"My lord, you don't know, these Hexi 'bandits'. Behind them stands the Zhou Xuan Heavenly King of Taikang City who is secretly supporting them."

"Let this group of people not only be well-equipped, horses strong, but also well-trained, their combat effectiveness is strong, far from what ordinary bandits can compare."

The land of Hexi has long been Zhou Xuan's sphere of influence.

Mentioning Zhou Xuan, he was the former Sixth Prince of Daqing, ambitious, self-proclaimed Heavenly King, with one hundred thousand elite troops under his command.

When Zhou Xuan was still a prince, he was already in charge of Hexi military affairs, deeply loved by the army, and had high prestige.

After the Battle of Mount Zhongnan, he relied on the natural moat of Hexi and decisively declared himself king, becoming a master of one side.

In Hexi, Zhou Xuan not only established the Heavenly King Mansion.

But also personally built a court team, the scale of which is no different from the formal court, showing his ambition.

This place!

In addition to being famous for its rich aquatic products, rice is more expensive than fish, and it also has the natural moat of Kunshan and the fertile soil of the scouring plain, with paddy fields everywhere.

It is truly a treasure land, coveted by countless people.

Not only because of its rich products!

But also because of the "notorious" mountain bandits and water thieves.

Every year, the Heavenly King Mansion in Taikang City sends heavy troops to suppress bandits, but they don't know that several of the largest forces among them.

Are actually the "sharp blades" secretly in the Heavenly King Mansion, borrowing the name of bandits to deter the aristocratic families of Hexi.

If any aristocratic family dares to disobey the Heavenly King Mansion, the mountain bandits and water thieves will be like jackals and tigers, and will never show mercy.

"Master, we only have three people on this trip, what if we are exposed?"

The old man in brocade was worried.

"Moreover, the Taikang camp is two hundred miles away, the other party has many people, I am afraid that before we step into the Taikang territory, we have already been buried under the chaotic arrows." His voice revealed deep worry.

The old man smoking dry tobacco was full of confidence and smiled lightly:

"Oh, Great Supervisor, you are too worried. We have heaven's help on this trip, how can we be so bad?"

"My luck has always been very good."

Hearing this, the old man in brocade was even more helpless.

The noble status of the master, the body of gold, how can he easily take risks!

The old man was still smoking dry tobacco, not caring at all!

If there were people from Qianyuan here.

They would definitely recognize this old man who smokes dry tobacco.

This person is the famous "Broken Clothes Prime Minister" of the Qianyuan Dynasty—Lady Gongsun Pingxi.

Lady Gongsun Pingxi is a descendant of a great Confucian, and has shown extraordinary knowledge and wisdom since childhood.

He once served as the libation at the Jixia Academy, the holy land of Confucianism in the Chu State, with supreme status.

With his profound knowledge, he won the respect and following of countless scholars.

However!

Just when Lady Gongsun Pingxi's reputation was at its peak, he proposed a shocking theory.

"At the beginning of man, nature is evil"

This point of view runs counter to the "At the beginning of man, nature is good" advocated by Confucianism for thousands of years.

"Man is not like a beast, not in the nature of man, but in the behavior of man."

"Man does not exist because of morality that cannot be avoided in nature, but because man knows that he should have morality, so he strives to be good."

Once these words were spoken, the world was in an uproar.

Countless Confucian scholars regarded it as heresy, accusing him of being rebellious and betraying the fundamental doctrine of Confucianism.

In the Chu Dynasty, where Confucianism occupied a dominant position, the Chu Dynasty governed the world with Confucianism.

Such remarks were undoubtedly a huge challenge to imperial power and orthodoxy.

Finally!

Because of this "great disrespect," Lady Gongsun Pingxi was stripped of all official positions and honors by the Emperor of Chu and exiled to the border, becoming a slave.

This was twenty years of slave life.

Lady Gongsun Pingxi was getting older, and he had no value when he was old, so he was sold from Chu to Qianyuan.

At that time, a merchant used three sheepskins to exchange for Lady Gongsun Pingxi.

So ever since.

Lady Gongsun Pingxi rose rapidly all the way, serving as the Prime Minister of Qianyuan, the head of civil officials.

And that merchant was none other than the Sixth Princess of Qianyuan that year!

The current Empress of Qianyuan.

Twenty years of slave life, the originally gentle Lady Gongsun Pingxi also became an old man smoking dry tobacco.

Even now he has high official positions and generous salary.

But he still wears the tattered cloth clothes from when he was a slave.

In the court of Qianyuan, he is also called "Broken Clothes Prime Minister".

He has words:

"If you don't help the Emperor pacify the world, this clothes will not be taken off for a day."

This old man in brocade is also a big figure in Qianyuan, the Chief Supervisor of Qianyuan, the personal attendant of the Empress since childhood.

"Not good!"

The old man in brocade noticed that the mountain bandits in the distance had discovered their tracks.

In the flying dust, the three hundred iron cavalry approached rapidly like a whirlwind.

At this critical moment!

The old man in brocade urged his master to retreat as soon as possible.

"Master, go quickly!"

The person covering the ghost mask was exceptionally calm, just lightly spurred the horse, and watched the army that was about to arrive quietly.

Lady Gongsun Pingxi "preciously" put away the tobacco pipe, inserted it into his waist, and spread his hands:

"At this distance, if we run backward, wouldn't we just leave our backs to them? Moreover, we are still within the range of their crossbows, isn't this seeking our own death?"

The old man in brocade was already anxious.

He wanted to spur his horse and flee.

But the master was still there, he couldn't move!

In the blink of an eye.

The three hundred cavalry had surged like a tide, surrounding several people.

Although the cavalry were not wearing heavy armor, the sharp blades in their hands and the bows and arrows on their backs all showed their combat effectiveness, obviously not comparable to ordinary mountain bandits.

The leader was even better equipped, his helmet and chainmail shining with cold light in the sun.

His gaze pointed directly at Lady Gongsun Pingxi and the three.

The surrounding mountain bandits were dressed in all sorts of ways, each dancing with knives in their hands, whistling, their eyes fierce.

"See where you can run!"

The leader's voice was cold and unkind, he stared at Lady Gongsun Pingxi.

"It was you three who just killed my brothers?"

Looking at the bright knives and swords of the mountain bandits around, the old man in brocade couldn't help but feel a sense of fear in his heart.

He held the reins tightly, and his palms were already sweating.

Recalling that the master had just killed four or five mountain bandits to save the village invaded by mountain bandits, but ended up attracting the pursuit of these three hundred people, he was even more anxious.

At this moment, he almost wanted to blurt out the true identity of the master to deter these mountain bandits.

Lady Gongsun Pingxi rode on the horse and said with a smile to the leader of the mountain bandits:

"Leader, the matter of killing people has nothing to do with me."

However.

The leader of the mountain bandits obviously didn't buy it, his gaze wandered between Lady Gongsun Pingxi and the other two, and finally fell on the person covering the ghost mask.

"Playing gods and ghosts, pay with your life for my brothers!"

"Kill them, hang the three corpses in the village, let's see who dares not to pay grain!"

The leader of the mountain bandits gave another order.

"Don't hurt the horses, they are all good horses!"

Facing the tiger-like gaze of the people around, although the old man in brocade was afraid, he still tremblingly blocked in front of the master.

"Alright, Old Li, just step back."

Behind the mask, a majestic voice came out.

But the people around seemed to quiet down all of a sudden, and then there was a burst of laughter.

The leader laughed loudly:

"So it's a woman, brothers don't kill her, line up and come one by one later."

"I hope it's not an ugly monster behind the mask."

Hearing this, the old man in brocade was already furious and said angrily:

"Presumptuous!"

The group of mountain bandits didn't care.

"Do it."

The people around took knives and swords and quickly surrounded them, facing the enemy from both sides, full of crises.

The leader was originally watching the battle coldly on the side.

But soon!

His smile froze, replaced by full eyes of horror.

The person covering the ghost mask, by his own strength, just charged back and forth on the horse, and more than a dozen brothers were split in half.

"This!"

Not long after.

The grass was covered with corpses.

"This... how is it possible!"

The person covering the ghost mask swung a sword flower, and everyone in the field except him was cut down in a pool of blood like cutting melons and vegetables.

The person covering the ghost mask approached on horseback.

The leader was still immersed in shock, he looked at the scarlet ghost mask, and asked with a trembling voice:

"Are you human... or ghost?" However, this question did not get an answer.

Because the next moment, the person covering the ghost mask charged, and the leader was also cut in half along with his horse.

Bloodstains were like a waterfall!

Witnessing all this, the old man in brocade was full of disbelief.

He rarely had the opportunity to follow the master to the battlefield, mostly serving in the palace, and had never seen such a bloody and spectacular scene.

Lady Gongsun Pingxi said loudly: "Your Majesty, heroic!"

The person covering the ghost mask shook the blood on the sword lightly, put the sword into the scabbard, and inserted it into the saddle.

This person slowly took off the mask.

Revealing a!

A face that topples the country, but the long eyebrows enter the temples, and a pair of phoenix eyes look exceptionally heroic.

The woman is the Empress of Qianyuan—Wu Ying.

Wu Ying opened her arms, feeling the breeze rising around her, she smiled lightly:

"I have entered the realm of heaven and man!"

She looked up at the high sky, and there were eagles flying over the majestic Kunshan.

"Who says women can't be emperors!"

"Wu Ying will definitely inherit the legacy of her ancestors, control the troops of the world, establish achievements that are not worldly, and shatter the void!"

Lady Gongsun Pingxi heard this behind Wu Ying, smiled slightly, and took out the tobacco pipe from his waist to swallow clouds and fog.

Wu Ying put on the mask again, restoring that mysterious image.

She said in a deep voice:

"Let's go, return to the camp in Hexi. This time joining forces with Zhou Xuan, we must capture Jiangnan."

"Go to Jiangnan and meet that Shaobao of Mount Zhongnan!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 120 =====