C15 Mountain Bandits on the Road

Wolf Ivory Valley, as its name implied, was truly well-deserved. Three faced the mountain, and one side was a ditch. The mountainous terrain was dangerous, and their teeth were interlaced. It was as if countless huge wolves were opening their mouths wide to reveal their sharp teeth as they howled towards the sky. Leaving aside the dangers of the mountain, there was a large ravine, a narrow steep slope, and towering trees that covered the sky. He did not hear the sounds of birds chirping or the fragrance of flowers, but he could feel the breezy wind. It was as if there were countless eyes in the depths of the forest staring at the passersby. It was day, and it was frightening and chilling. In the dead of night, what embarrassment would he have?

The young eunuch was still hesitating when he suddenly heard a long howl coming from the jungle. A wolf was not like a wolf, a tiger was not like a tiger, but a demon was screaming. The young eunuch was immediately thrown into a panic as he looked all over the place, carefully searching his surroundings to see if there was anything. Fortunately, he was a general who had gone through many battles. Otherwise, he would have been scared to death.

Following that, there was another "whistle" and a "troop" appeared from the bushes. They were all dressed in shabby clothing, almost covering their bodies. The leader's face was dark like paint, his face was fierce, and he looked ferocious. Riding on a blue and white mule with a wolf-tooth pot in hand, he saw the young eunuch and shouted loudly:

"Tai, this mountain is mine to open, and this tree is mine to plant. If you want to live through it, leave behind some money to sell!" Those who know better, leave behind the money for the horses and run away. Those who don't know better, hand their lives over! "

The eunuch regained his composure and looked around carefully, shouting at the person. There were a few traces of charcoal powder on his face and teeth exposed. It was definitely not something a human should be able to compare to. This person was obviously made up. He thought that anyone who played tricks on others would not have much ability to do so. There were seven or eight "personal generals" under his command. They were also skinny and had color to their faces. Most of them were caused by malnutrition.

"Do you want money or your life? Decide quickly?" The leader could not wait any longer. He waved his hand and shouted.

The eunuch thought to himself: If they were to fight, these people would definitely not be a match for them. He wasn't afraid of losing, he was only afraid that they would run away and hide in the forest. If they wanted to die, then they wouldn't show themselves. How could he find them? After thinking about this, he decided to use the strategy of slowing the army. He would only speak and not make a move. And so it says:

"Great King, I am a merchant and am rich. As a restaurant in the capital, the business there was flourishing. Little Sheng thought that he was better now, and couldn't forget the essence. Thus, he went back to his hometown to pick up Old Mother and enjoy the happiness with me. He didn't expect to encounter someone who would rob Old Mother while he was on his way. One of the ringleaders was captured by my men a few days ago, and only after I had urged him repeatedly and promised not to take his life did he tell me the truth. They had hidden my mother in this mountain, but he could not remember her exact location. As a result, I went alone into the mountains. It was also fate that I met all of you. If you know the whereabouts of my mother, I am willing to divide half of the family property with you heroes, let everyone follow me into the city to enjoy the blessings. My words are true, but if I make a slip of the tongue, it will be no different from this spear. "

With that, the eunuch crossed the silver spear shaft and placed it on his knees. He exerted strength in his hands, and with a crack, he broke it in half.

When the bandits heard this, it caused a huge stir. Since the group of thieves didn't dare to say anything, they could only whisper to each other. From their murmurs, the young eunuch had already come to know that the Empress Dowager was in their hands.

The bandit leader asked, "Is everything you said true?"

The eunuch replied, "In my hands, my mother is a precious treasure that is hard to exchange for. In your hands, she is worthless. Why would I lie to you?"

The Boss said, "Do you have anything valuable on you? There is no basis for words to be used as collateral. "

The young eunuch groped around for a long time, but he could not come up with anything decent. He had lived in the palace for many years and had never gotten used to spending money. He had thought that the world was filled with supplies, so he didn't need to buy food or clothes. Upon hearing that the thief wanted something of value, he suddenly remembered that the world needed money. Suddenly, he touched the piece of jade hanging from his neck. It was given to him as a souvenir by Sultan Wu'er when he was about to part. He didn't know how much it was worth because it was a token from his lover. Since he was in a rush today, he didn't have the time to worry about it anymore. He could just take it out and make a number first. He took off the jade and threw it at the boss, asking:

"Will that do?"

The Boss took it and looked at it carefully, then shook his head and said, "How much can a piece of broken stone be worth if it is painted with a little color? This won't do. Who are you trying to coax? You can't even get half a sack of grain rice. Look around, see if there's anything else? " That being said, he still kept the piece of jade in his pocket.

It wasn't that the head of the bandits had made a mistake, but that he didn't understand anything at all. This piece of jade was a pure red coral at the bottom of the sea. It was the size of a goose egg, and its size, patterns, color, shape, shape, and shape were all excellent.

The eunuch was infuriated. He wanted to ride his horse and capture the bandit so that he could rescue Esteemed Empress Dowager immediately. He didn't want to fight to the death with you, so he turned his butt and ran into the dense forest. Where were you going to get him? Just as he was at a loss of what to do, the eunuch thought of the 'dagger of Shang Fang' that the young emperor had bestowed upon him. This was a treasure that concerned life and death! If Wang Shugui tried to interfere, perhaps he could resist for a while with this kind of thing. Now, in order to save someone, he was willing to give it his all. Of course, he didn't dare say it out loud, nor did he have to tell the head thief that it was the Emperor who gave it to him.

The Boss turned the blade over and over a few times, then very professionally nodded and said, "This is more or less like it, it's more or less worth two dollars. The blade's edge was also very sharp, just that it was a bit short. Otherwise, it could be used as a weapon. Alright, I see that you are an honest person, so I won't make things difficult for you. If it wasn't for us, your mother would have been buried by those bandits. You must not forget this life-saving favor. We are clean between the two of us, but you must keep this horse. "We're used to living in these mountains, so we don't have the life to go with you to the city. Take your mother and leave, don't bother us again in the future."

This greedy fellow! The eunuch cursed in his heart, but with the Empress Dowager's help, he was finally able to land a stone on the ground. But then again, these things were like the difference between heaven and earth when compared to the empress dowager.

The young eunuch dismounted, and the horse was led by a bandit. It took him more than two hours to follow the winding path through the mountains before he saw a few holes in the dilapidated cave. But he could see the smoke from the cooking smoke rising and the sound of the chickens crowing and dogs barking. It was obvious that he had someone else in his life. "Without someone leading the way, ordinary people would not be able to discover this mysterious place." At the entrance of the village, several women dressed in strange attire danced happily when they saw that their "troops" had triumphantly returned. A mountaineer pointed to a cave and said:

"Go in, your mother is inside."

It was very dark in the cave. The young eunuch frowned and searched for a long time before he found a person lying in the haystack. He had disheveled hair, dirty face, naked body, and a face as yellow as paper. How did he look like an empress dowager, a wealthy imperial mother? He was clearly an old beggar granny in the midst of all sorts of evil things.

The young eunuch fell to his knees and kneeled down. Two streams of hot tears flowed down his cheeks as he choked with sobs and shouted:

"Mother, I've saved you!"

Tong Qingyu heard someone calling to her in a trance and quickly opened her eyes to look. It took her a long time before she recognized that it was the young eunuch. All sorts of feelings welled up within him, and he couldn't help but burst into tears. He put his hands on the young eunuch's head and said in a mournful voice,

"Son, could this be a dream?"

The eunuch flew down the mountain with his back to the Empress Dowager. Before he left, he made an agreement with the Boss: Seven days later, he would bring a cart full of grain in exchange for the stone and the knife, and the horses would be abandoned. The Boss snickered. How could such a fool make a fortune? You can't even calculate this kind of account and you still want to do a big business? It wasn't worth the food of a carriage! Of course he was saying yes with his mouth, and he even swore that anyone who misspoke would be a dog!

Two hundred miles was a full five days' journey. During that time, all he did was beg for food and sleep, and once or twice he even curled up in a small, dilapidated temple and stayed through the cool autumn night.

They finally made it to the capital, and they arrived at the entrance of the palace.

The eunuch said, "Quick, let us in. This is the empress dowager."

The guard laughed. "Empress Dowager? Is there any evidence? "

The empress dowager searched her entire body once more, but couldn't come up with any proof of her identity. Finally impatient, he said, "Don't you know how to recognize people?"

"Acknowledging what? The old beggar woman acted like the empress dowager was a capital offense, so I won't bother with you guys anymore. Scram! "There's a small restaurant in front of us. There might be leftover food and soup."

"I'm Pan Congan, the Generalissimo, and the eunuch. You don't even know me?" The young eunuch was very tactful and gave out a lot of titles.

"You are a eunuch? This is quite fresh, take off your pants and let me see. If you really don't have that thing, I can hire someone to fill in a gap for you. "

Tong Bi Yu said: "An'er, don't waste time talking to them. "Come, let's go to your uncle's house."

Tong Shixian complained, "Why didn't you ask the emperor for a gold medal before you left?"

"It is useless to say that," said Tong. "The best thing to do is to go to the bandits and get back the sword. There are two days left, and I'll get a carriage full of grain. I'll set off early tomorrow, and I won't waste any time the day after tomorrow. "

In the imperial court, the young emperor asked the eunuch, "Brother, you've been out for so many days, is there any news from mother?"

The eunuch shook his head. Looking at his expression, he could clearly see a sneer that was barely noticeable on Wang Shigui's face.

"The Queen Mother is gone, are you still going back to the harem?" the young Emperor asked again.

The eunuch said, "I'm staying at General Tong's estate for the time being."

The young emperor called out, "That's good. After the next assembly, I'll go with you to Uncle Guo's house to play."

The eunuch said, "You can't go."

"Why?"

The eunuch said, "General Tong's residence is not a good place to play."

"Then let's go!" "It's fun with you around." After the little emperor had finished speaking, he turned around and called out to the deacon eunuch. "Order, prepare a carriage, and drive General Tong's estate."

When the empress dowager saw her son's tears, she sobbed, "Ah, imperial son, Imperial Mother has suffered!"

The young emperor smiled. "I've been looking for you everywhere. So Imperial Mother is hiding at Uncle's home."

The empress dowager said, "My son sent out an imperial decree ordering the palace to prepare the imperial carriage to receive mother and bring her into the palace in secret."

"What secret? When the empress dowager returned to the palace, it was only right for the gongs and drums to fill the sky, for firecrackers to ring out in unison. Is there a need to secretly bring me back to the palace? "

"Your son will obey. It won't be too late to set off the firecrackers after your mother enters the palace."

The young emperor didn't dare to be stubborn and said, "Alright, Imperial Mother, I shall issue the decree."

The empress dowager sent down an imperial decree that the imperial harem was to build a special palace for the young eunuchs, known as the "Duke Pan's Mansion." The young eunuch was promoted to the position of Chief Eunuch in one fell swoop. All kinds of important matters in the harem were dealt with by the nod and nod of the Eunuch. No one else was allowed to act arbitrarily.