Chapter 89 – Wheelchair in the Night Wind

Dazhou in the darkness of the night, Dazhou surrounded by torches, Dazhou where the sky and the ground are full of starry flames, not much darker than the day. The former president of the Supervisory Academy, the most loyal servant of His Majesty the Emperor of Qing, the closest courtier, Chen Pingping sitting on the wheelchair, looking at the people kneeling on both sides of the official road bowing and saluting to himself, the expression on his face did not have a trace of trembling, and those fine and deep wrinkles didn’t blossom into a chrysanthemum-like pattern, but just spread out indifferently, just like those shocking images on the loess plains that have been formed by the rainwater washed away for thousands of years.

Dry and old hands slowly stroked from the woolen blanket, this light gray woolen blanket is always so smooth and comfortable, whenever stroked on it, Chen Pingping always felt that he was stroking something that he was not blessed to touch.

It didn’t take long for him to know from the mouth of that inner court eunuch what exactly happened in Dazhou city, and he also knew who the imperial prisoner who was being rescued by the subordinates of the Supervisory Board was.

Gouda? This name was not familiar to Chen Pingping, but it was not unfamiliar to him either, and he knew that it was Fan Xian’s close guard from back then. He glanced at the blood-covered imperial court prisoner, and his cold eyes gradually narrowed.

The Supervisory Court did not know that Gouda was alive, Chen Pingping sighed in her heart, thinking that the head of the Tiger Guard was actually turned into a character who had learned to value his life by Fan Xian, An Zhi, the child who usually acted in a seemingly indifferent and uninteresting manner, did not think that it turned out to have such magic in the smallest detail.

As Chen Pingping said to herself earlier, Qiaoqiao’s mother, actually really gave birth to Qiaoqiao, this is not a very coincidental thing, but karma is destined, the previous events are destined, and then fell here. Just as today, the convoy of thirty black carriages of the Supervisory Yuan, just passing through Dazhou in a very normal way, but outside of the city of Dazhou, met the battle of the imperial court to arrest an imperial offender, and the imperial offender who was arrested by the imperial court, was the person who was Fan Xian in the beginning.

This was also not a coincidence, not a coincidental encounter, behind all of this, perhaps something was hidden.

“Lord He actually managed to find out about the escaped Chin prisoner, that’s really something.” Chen Pingping coughed twice and said with a smile. The old servant behind him, who never left his right or left, pushed his wheelchair and marched towards the middle of the crowd.

The wheelchair crushed on the official road, emitting a creaking and palpitating sound.

The inner court eunuch He Qi Gan in the court of seniority is very high, just the temperament of the shadowy, has not been allowed in the palace nobles like, so the position is not how important, however, in the palace in the fight for decades, he naturally know at this time he should show how the attitude.

He led two eunuchs and the Ministry of Justice thirteen Yamen masters to spread the encirclement, for fear of letting the old dean Chen think that these people have any hostile intent.

He Qi Gan knew what kind of terrifying figure Elder Abbot Chen was, and he would never have the luxury of hoping that since he had run into him today, if the other party gave the word, these people of his own would still be able to take that imperial court prisoner away. Of course, from another aspect, he also did not think that the old dean, who had already sued and resigned from his post, would disobey His Majesty’s will because of such an insignificant court admittance, after all, old dean Chen was His Majesty’s most loyal subordinate.

It was just that he had overlooked two things, one was that Chen Pingping knew that Gao Da was Fan Xian’s man, and Fan Xian never liked other people to come against his own people, even if those so-called other people were sent out from the palace, and the second thing was that Chen Pingping was immersed in a very complicated emotion, he was looking at the still unconscious court prisoner Gao Da on the ground, and mulling over things in his mind that the onlookers simply did not understand.

The treatment of the Supervisory Yuan was very effective, Gao Da finally woke up slowly from the pool of blood, he should not have been able to bear such heavy injuries, but in order to protect his mother and child, there were several knife wounds that penetrated into the flesh and bones, all of which were hard to be received by him with his torso and arms.

As soon as he woke up, his eyes were stung by the torches around him, and Gouda’s dry lips moved slightly before he saw the black wheelchair that was close at hand, as well as the big man in the wheelchair. He hadn’t seen Old Dean Chen a few times, but he knew what kind of person Old Dean Chen was, especially after seeing the slightly worried and very complicated eyes of Old Dean Chen.

The mute woman saw her husband waking up, overjoyed, holding the child half-kneeling beside him, nodding to the surrounding officials of the Supervisory Yuan to thank, this folk woman, does not know how delicate the situation between the field at this time, also do not know the so-called rescue and not save, in fact, are just the lead of those big events behind, all depends on how Chen Pingping do.

Gouda’s face dimmed, he knew that if Chen Pingping saved her own life for the sake of Little Lord Fan, then He Zongwei could use this matter to drag Fan Xian into the water, or even drag Chen Pingping into the water.

His fingers moved slightly, a hint of viciousness flashed in his eyes, and he tapped his fingers towards his temples!

Earlier, he wanted to escape because he was single, with his wife and son, and even though he was facing the powerful state apparatus of Qing, he still had to stubbornly live until the day he couldn’t live anymore.

However, at this moment, he wanted to kill himself because he knew that if he lived, he would give Chen Pingping, or more accurately, he would give a difficult problem to Little Lord Fan, whom Chen Pingping wanted to protect.

So he chose to kill himself. Chen Pingping watched him strike without the slightest reaction, only a hint of appreciation flashed in her eyes, and a smile of insight into the world.

With a snap, the Inspectorate official who had been guarding Gouda’s side easily stopped Gouda’s thoughts of killing himself, he looked at Gouda and said indifferently, “It’s not easy to live for three more years, you’re a man with a wife and child, why are you in such a hurry to die.”

This voice was familiar, Gouda’s heart shook slightly, and with great difficulty he twisted his head to look at it, not expecting to see a completely unfamiliar face, however this Supervisory Yuan official turned back to his original tone of voice, and coupled with the familiar teasing color in those eyes, it allowed Gouda to know the other party’s identity immediately.

Gouda’s dry lips moved slightly, but he couldn’t speak, looking at this Inspectorate official like a ghost, and after a long time, he cried and laughed in a very low voice, “It turns out …… that you’re also still alive.”

That Supervisory Yuan official smiled slightly, tightened the cloth on his body again, patted his hand and said, “Who doesn’t want to live? The dean is here, it’s not your turn to decide whether you live or die.”

Chen Pingping leaned against the black wheelchair with slight fatigue. The two sides of the caravan those women of Chen Yuan dispersed to the forest for convenience, it was good that those shy voices didn’t come over, only later those flirting voices gradually got higher.

The old man’s eyes narrowed slightly, looked at Gouda and said, “You are not Gouda.”

Gouda’s heart was shaken, and he looked at Dean Chen uncertainly.

Chen Pingping slowly said, “You’re just a small person, your death or life isn’t a big deal, so it’s best for you to stay alive.”

With these words, not only Gouda and the Supervisory Court official beside him, but even the Ministry of Justice experts scattered around as well as He Qi Gan’s three inner court eunuchs all smelled a hint of something odd. Yes, the tiger guard Gouda who escaped from the battlefield, the imperial court’s admired criminal who had been secretly searched for a long time by He Qi Gan, in the view of the Supervisory Yuan, or to be precise, in the eyes of Chen Pingping, was simply just an inconspicuous minor character.

He Qi Gan silently took two steps backward, and then the governor of Dazhou moved over in small steps extremely nervously, made a solemn salute to Chen Pingping, and then asked the old dean to enter the city for a short rest.

The Supervisory Yuan was a secret service organization, the one that all officials feared and hated the most, and also the one that they wanted to get in touch with the most, however, from Chen Pingping to Fan Xian, both of these two people were cowboys who didn’t need to weave their relationships in the dynasty, so the civil officials in the Kingdom of Qing could never find any opportunities.

And right now was undoubtedly a great opportunity for Lord Governor of Dazhou to ingratiate himself with Elder Abbot Chen and thus continue to ingratiate himself with the young eunuch, as an official, he would not want to miss it no matter what, as for any imperial court culprits, that was a matter for the officials of the inner court and the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, and it was none of his business.

Chen Pingping ignored this official, he just looked at Gouda indifferently, thinking about his own matters in his heart.

As stated earlier, Chen Pingping didn’t think that Gouda’s steep appearance was a coincidence at all, He Zongwei secretly investigated Gouda and Wang Qinian, this matter might be able to hide from the Supervisory Board but not from His Majesty, and His Majesty chose to let this matter explode out on his way back, for what?

For a reason, an excuse, a questioning.

The emperor was in Kyoto, thousands of miles away, questioning Chen Pingping, questioning Chen Pingping with the matter of the little life of the imperial court prisoner, are you actually one of my black dogs, or are you a powerful minister with your own will?

Powerful ministers have never had a good end, even if Lin Ruofu general, extremely opportunistic, retreat cleanly, thoroughly, hiding in Wuzhou as a farmer, but also always afraid of His Majesty the emperor is not happy someday.

Chen Pingping is not a general courtier, he does not need to worry about these, he knows that the emperor just wants to ask himself a sentence, and then take a look at his own attitude – to the emperor’s attitude.

Chen Pingping suddenly smiled, the smile was a bit weird, under the blowing of the night wind, under the reflection of the torches, it was like those non-stop blooming golden thread chrysanthemums under the Hanging Temple, not afraid of the cold wind, ignoring the mundane dust, just blossoming with fury.

“Let Gouda recuperate.” He gently stroked the handle of the wheelchair and said with a smile.

The dozens of people sent by the imperial court in Kyoto to apprehend the Chinaman, together with the hundreds of government officials and soldiers in Dazhou, listening to such a faint sentence, their hearts chilled at the same time, knowing that President Chen had decided to intervene, and although they didn’t dare to resist, nor were they capable of resisting against the Inspectorate’s swordsmen and spies that the thirty black carriages were carrying, and the forces that were hidden in the darkness, they were still feeling shocked.

If Chen Pingping wanted to protect this person, it was only feared that His Majesty the Emperor would have to give him this face. He Qigan and those Thirteen Yamen masters were thinking this in their hearts, their faces were ugly and embarrassed, yet there was not a single one of them that dared to express any opposition to Chen Pingping’s words.

Because objections were ineffective, objections were impotent. He Qi Gan throat dry, some reluctance, he was sent by the inner court to the side of He Da Daoshi, wandering in the dynasty county of Qingguo for a year, looking to catch up to the Gouda, but …… in a split second, He Qi Gan some helpless thought, this errand even if it is done, but after returning to the capital, as long as you tell the chief official and the head eunuch, it is the old dean of the Chen interfered with the hand He said, “It’s none of my business.

Those delicate and playful Chen Garden beauties finally came back, they opened their big eyes and looked curiously at those who were surrounded by torches, they didn’t know what happened, they also didn’t know what the master was talking about, what he was thinking, they weren’t too worried, no matter whether they were in the Chen Garden, or in the guerrilla warfare during the Kyoto Rebellion, or even on the way back to their hometowns nowadays, they were surrounded by the people from the Supervisory Yuan as protection, they had the people from the Supervisory Yuan as protection. No matter where the officials were, they were treated with courtesy.

They are Chen Pingping from the poor folk to buy back the orphan girl, in addition to the birth of a beautiful, singing a mouthful of good music, no other strengths, but Chen Pingping is willing to raise them, protect them, this quirk, but also created these flowers in the greenhouse.

If Chen Pingping this mountain fell, I do not know how these flowers in the greenhouse, will fall into a flower stump branch broken end.

Chen Pingping lowered his head and smiled slightly as he listened to the familiar voices of the women not far behind him.

He did not let the caravan accept the invitation of the governor of Dazhou to enter the city for the night, but just calmly sat on top of his wheelchair, looking around at the inner court eunuchs and officials of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs who had complex faces, seemingly thinking about something, seemingly waiting for something.

Then he closed his eyes.

There were not many people in this world who understood His Majesty the Emperor of Qing like Chen Pingping did. Gouda was indeed a small person, even as a touchstone, it didn’t have that kind of hardness, however, this kind of thing in the human heart is always a kind of subjective solipsism, His Majesty the Emperor at this time waited as if he were saying to Chen Pingping in the darkness of the mountains that this Chin prisoner is the stone that I have left for you.

At this time in front of Chen Pingping there are many choices.

He could save Gouda and return home in style, although he knew that some people would come to him immediately, but just as Ye Chong and Eunuch Yao thought, who could keep Chen Pingping in the mountains and fields within the country of Qing?

He could ignore the death of Gouda and take the women in the caravan back to his hometown to retire for the rest of his final days.

His Majesty gave Chen Pingping one last chance to choose, no matter which of the above mentioned Chen Pingping chose, perhaps it was what His Majesty would like to see, and the Emperor himself knew that if Chen Pingping didn’t want to go back to Kyoto to face himself again, then no one could force him to do so.

Chen Pingping did not move. The atmosphere on both sides of the official road was also getting weirder and weirder, and there were many people who could already tell that Chen Pingping seemed to be waiting for something.

Could it be that someone else was coming?

The Supervisory Yuan official who had been guarding Gouda’s side earlier walked to the side of the wheelchair and lowered himself to whisper something in Chen Pingping’s ear. Chen Pingping slowly shook her head, shaking her head slowly but firmly.

Not much time had passed before voices gradually sounded from the back of the official road, these voices were not how noisy, instead they carried a flavor of caution.

The officials of the Supervisory Court did not stop this procession, but vigilantly escorted them with their eyes to the center of the torchlight encirclement.

The Governor of Dazhou as well as He Qi Gan, these inner court eunuchs and officials of the Ministry of Justice, finally got a good look at this procession, and finally realized what kind of people Elder Abbot Chen was waiting for, and while they were shocked, they could not help but feel a chill, so it turned out that Elder Abbot Chen had already known what was going to happen behind them.

If this is a big chessboard, then including He Qi Gan, these inner court eunuchs, the officials of the Ministry of Justice who have been working hard for a long time, and even He Zongwei, who laid down this plan in the beginning, are actually just small and inconspicuous pieces on the chessboard.

He Zongwei’s side sent people, there is no holy decree in his hands, the Supervisory Yuan at this time to intervene, is not considered to be disobedience to the decree, to Chen Pingping’s position, naturally there is no problem.

However, the holy decree finally arrived.

This is like the chess board suddenly the red side jumped a knight, riding on the back of the bishop, and then asked the black veteran general, do you want to move, or kill this horse?

The ten or so people of the military squad did not have the eunuch who pronounced the decree, these Qing army armor in the body, heroic and unusual, however, the face are with a very complex emotion.

The squad leader was holding a bright yellow imperial decree in his hand.

The sound of horses’ hooves broke the tranquility outside of Dazhou City, all the soldiers dismounted in unison and bowed solemnly to Chen Pingping in the wheelchair, then that squad leader with the holy decree began to read out His Majesty’s decree with a trembling voice.

The decree has nothing to do with the Chen Pingping who returned to her hometown to retire, but only for the imperial court prisoner Gao Da on the carriage of the Supervisory Yuan at this time, ordering the Ministry of Criminal Affairs to immediately apprehend this traitor who deceived the king back to the capital as soon as possible, and no one shall stop him, or he shall be punished as a treasonous criminal.

After reading the decree, the field is so quiet that you can hear the sound of water droplets dripping from the grass not far away, all eyes are horrified to the old man in the wheelchair, at this time even more stupid people can also see the problem, where in the world there is such a coincidence, just now the Supervisory Yuan is still saying that there is no holy decree on the side of the inner court, at this time …… the holy decree will appear in the The first thing I want to do is to get the money to pay for it.

The governor of Dazhou subconsciously retreated a step to the periphery, and everyone subconsciously retreated a step to the outside, and they finally knew that this scene today is actually a game between His Majesty and Chen old dean, and they are not qualified to be involved in this matter, and they don t even have this kind of qualification to even look at it.

That junior captain finished reading the imperial decree with a trembling voice, took the bright yellow silk cloth back into his arms, then walked to the front of the wheelchair and knelt down on one knee, reporting in a low voice, “I am Officer Xiong, an auxiliary general of the Kyoto Guard Division, and I have come by the order of General Shi, to assist the inner court’s Ministry of Criminal Affairs in apprehending the imperial prisoners, so I ask for the old abbot’s convenience.”

Chen Pingping’s face paled slightly, he knew that this scene was going to come after all, His Majesty hadn’t blocked the final path after all, but that was perhaps because His Majesty had known that he would definitely block the path himself.

As the old saying goes, this matter started because of Gao Da, but it had nothing to do with Gao Da, it was just an exchange of questions between him and the Emperor.

In the mountains in the distance, there was peace and quiet, all the horses chewed on their mako, these warhorses of the Kingdom of Qing were so well trained that they didn’t even make a single sound of stirring on the ground. Thousands of Kyoto Guard Division’s elite cavalry were waiting in this valley, waiting for the final order to launch the attack. Thousands of iron armor, rushing towards the thirty black carriages on that official road, shouldn’t be such a difficult combat task, however, no matter whether it was the great general Shi Fei who stood at the very front, or these Kyoto Guard Division officers and soldiers at the back who already knew what was going on inside, they all felt that this was perhaps going to be the toughest battle in their own lives.

Shi Fei quietly sat on top of the horse, the hand of the monocular also put down, he did not forget, this branch of the monocular, the entire country of Qing produced only a few pairs of binoculars, and his hands this pair, or small Fan Lord new year’s gift to himself.

Shi Fei this life I do not know how many battles, can be said to have experienced a hundred battles of the people, three years ago, Qing Dongshan Road chaos, the northern camp commander Yan Xiaoyi line of rebellion, led thousands of troops camp surrounded the Great East Mountain, the entire northern camp are in a panic, although the subsequent mutiny was defeated, however, the northern camp group without a leader, there is a high probability of a mutiny or a collapse of the matter, when it was Shi Fei by His Majesty’s order, single-handedly into the When the time came, Shi Fei was heavily ordered by His Majesty to single-handedly enter the northern camp, and with an imperial decree he subdued tens of thousands of soldiers, and it was by virtue of this great merit that he became the current commander of the Kyoto guard division.

One person can subdue tens of thousands of individuals, yet today thousands of people are going to deal with that one old man in a wheelchair with limited mobility, Shi Fei’s heart is still nervous.

The squad that was declaring the decree had already gone, Shi Fei prayed in his heart that old dean Chen would back down in front of the decree, yet somehow he knew that Chen Pingping wouldn’t back down, not even a single step.

It was a very strange feeling, perhaps His Majesty the Emperor knew that Chen Pingping did not want to retreat, that was why he left a way back for Chen Pingping.

He didn’t know what had happened between the Emperor and old Dean Chen, but knew that that matter must have been deeply wedged between the two, so much so that it was clear that Dean Chen was going to return to his old age, yet it had forced the two to definitely choose to face each other to fight a battle.

The official road illuminated by the torches over there seemed to fall into a kind of silence, and then Chen Pingping seemed to slowly shake her head once again.

Shi Fei took a deep breath, the cold wind from the valley entered his lungs and cooled him to the point of some raw pain, he slowly pulled down the armor on his face and said in a deep voice, “Prepare.”

Thousands of iron armor began to prepare, ready to surround Chen Pingping, the outgoing head of the Supervisory Academy.

“His Majesty wants me to return and ask me something.” Chen Pingping sat on top of his wheelchair and said with a smile, “This is something that I have long thought of, I just didn’t think that he would hold back until this time to ask me, and I also didn’t think that asking would be enough, but actually tossed out so many things.”

He shook his head and sighed, “Your Majesty still doesn’t know me well enough.”

That Procuratorate official suddenly knelt down beside him and said through clenched teeth, “You must follow the decree!”

“No, I’ve been following orders all my life, right now I’m dying, why should I still follow orders?” Chen Pingping smiled and said, “His Majesty wants to ask me something, why do I …… not want to go and ask him something face to face?”

Then his face went cold, his eyes went cold, looked at the hundreds of people under the torchlight, and said in a chilling voice, “In life, there are always some questions that have been hovering in your heart for a long time that you have to ask out.”

The words, Dazhou city outside hoof beats like thunder, armor shadow reflecting the moon, in an instant will be the light of the torch suppressed. Only to see a piece of smoke and dust behind the official road rise up in the darkness of the night, and in only a few breaths of time, it killed the vicinity of the continuous caravan.

Thousands of iron armor, silent and sternly killing filled the area.

Everyone’s faces turned pale, staring at this scene in bewilderment, while those delicate women in the caravan couldn’t help but scream in terror as they watched this scene.

Chen Pingping sat in his wheelchair, his face still unchanged, only a hint of a mocking smile spreading from the corner of his lips. He didn’t give a word, all of the Inspectorate’s ministers didn’t make a move, they just tightly gripped the handles of their braziers, their knuckles clasped the rings of their crossbows, and stared nervously at these cavalrymen who were charging over from the fields on both sides of the official road.

Different from the general battle, what was very touching and perplexing was that the thousands of cavalrymen didn’t take advantage of this momentum to charge directly into the caravan and start killing, but rather willingly gave up the advantage of cavalry impulse, slowed down at the last moment, and just transformed into three sharp fronts that surrounded these thirty carriages.

Thousands of iron-armored cavalrymen, in the black official road, red torches, and the silver bright moon, created a haunting scene.

A slice of austerity.

The old servant pushed the wheelchair and slowly turned around, Chen Pingping propped her jaw on top of the handrail, looked at the general in the field beside the official road, whose body was hidden in armor, and said with a smile, “Three thousand and six hundred people, just want to take me back, General Shi, aren’t you looking down on me too much?”

Shi Fei who was riding on the horse had been struggling in his heart, he didn’t give the order to his subordinates to charge instantly, just because he hoped that there was still a chance for things to turn around, he wasn’t willing to completely turn over his face to the Supervisory Yuan like this, he didn’t know Chen Pingping’s backhand, and he didn’t care about Chen Pingping’s backhand, but he had to consider, after he was loyal to his majesty, and he had become an unsettled enemy to the Supervisory Yuan, what kind of miserable encounter he would be greeted with in the future of his life. He was afraid of Chen Pingping.

He was afraid of Chen Pingping, and he was also afraid of Fan Xian, but he was even more afraid of His Majesty, so he came today, but he still didn’t make a move.

When he heard these words from old dean Chen, his body on the horse trembled slightly, and he said in a hoarse, sorrowful voice, “Old dean, if you …… resist the decree to take in the imperial prisoners, the last general will have to …… ”

The words were not finished, Chen Pingping was already frowning and laughing: “Indeed, it is always the problem of the subject resisting the decree, not the problem of the monarch sending soldiers to ambush the old ministers who have returned to their hometowns …… ” He sighed and said, “Our Majesty, ah. At such a moment, still did not forget to maintain his great and honorable image, naturally, a shady character like me, also have to play his role.”

Thirty carriages, excluding those carriages dragging luggage and women, the team escorted all the way by the Supervisory Court totaled no more than a hundred people, yet it was these hundred officials of the Supervisory Court who, faced with more than three thousand cavalrymen of the Kyoto Guards Division, didn’t have the slightest hint of retreat, with their faces as cold as ever.

Shi Fei quietly watched this scene and sighed in his heart, today’s Supervisory Yuan only has Elder President Chen in its eyes, where else is there His Majesty? In the face of His Majesty’s decree, these officials of the Supervisory Yuan actually only knew to protect the old dean’s safety, and did not even need to think about it, no wonder His Majesty would be so scornful of this matter.

There were hidden shadows swaying in the woods on both sides of the official road, and no one knew how many assassins from the six divisions of the Procuratorate were in there.

Shi Fei suddenly felt that he felt a chill.

Chen Pingping closed her eyes and leaned back in her wheelchair, as if she was about to fall asleep in the night breeze.