Chapter 123 Auspicious Signs on Wuhuang Mountain and the Foolish Scholar in Front of the Refugee Camp
"Back off, everyone, back off!"
"I'm talking to you, I'm talking to you! If you want to kneel, kneel farther away from me!"
Wuhuang Mountain in the south of the city.
Although this mountain has a loud name, it is actually just a steep and barren slope of earth. Due to the lack of water nearby, few people have ever visited it.
But today was an exception. Not only were the streets of the city deserted, but even many refugees from outside the city had rushed over to join in the fun. This small barren mountain was truly surrounded by water and no one could get in or out.
What caused this spectacle was naturally the sudden appearance of the first hot air balloon in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and... its sudden crash!
Of course, this was just what Sun Shaozong thought.
The official unified statement on this matter is: This is an auspicious sign from heaven, congratulations to our emperor on his tenth anniversary of ascending the throne - otherwise, why would this auspicious sign fall on Wuhuang Mountain instead of anywhere else?
It’s no wonder that this ridiculous statement has misled quite a few people.
At this time, a large crowd of people were kneeling at the foot of the mountain. Some were chanting Buddha's name, some were worshipping Taoism, some were praising the king, and some were begging for a son as soon as possible. Each of them had their own words, but they all seemed very harmonious.
Sun Shaozong's current task is to lead the officials from one prefecture and two counties to set up a cordon at the foot of the mountain to prevent anyone from disrupting the auspicious sign on the mountain.
And on the mountainside, there is a second line of defense formed by the Huben Camp. Not to mention ordinary people, even court officials like Sun Shaozong are not allowed to approach at will.
To be honest, Sun Shaozong was not very interested in the hot air balloon - it was not a Zeppelin airship. A glance from a distance would tell that it was a crudely made thing. What was so special about it?
But he really wanted to know if there was anyone sitting on the hot air balloon, or in other words... if there were any time travelers on it!
Although having two time travelers in the same world might not necessarily be a good thing, Sun Shaozong still had some expectations.
"how."
Just as Sun Shaozong was looking up at the top of the mountain, someone beside him suddenly said with a smile, "Master Sun, do you also want to take a look at that large Kongming lantern?"
Kongming lantern ?
Sun Shaozong was stunned when he heard this. The principles of these two things are indeed similar, so it is appropriate to call the hot air balloon a large-scale Kongming lantern.
only……
Cheng Rixing, a small county magistrate, could see the truth in this. But the imperial court still mobilized such a large force. Aren’t they afraid of making a fool of themselves?
Just when he was puzzled, he suddenly saw the crowd not far away retreating to the left and right like a tide, and a team of dragon guards wearing black dragon-swallowing cloud robes appeared, along with two green wool sedan chairs .
It was obvious that an important person had arrived. Sun Shaozong did not dare to neglect him and hurriedly called Wang Qian, the magistrate of Daxing, Xu Huaizhi, the magistrate of Wanping, and others to greet him together.
When he got closer, Sun Shaozong was about to step forward respectfully to inquire who was in the sedan chair, when he saw the curtain of the sedan chair in front of him was lifted, revealing a pale and beardless face .
Sun Shaozong quickly changed his salute to a kneeling salute and said respectfully, "I, Sun Shaozong, greet the commander!"
Needless to say, the person sitting in the sedan chair was naturally the eunuch Dai Quan.
In the past, when Dai Quan met Sun Shaozong, he would inevitably make some jokes, but today he was not in the mood. He waved his blue silk handkerchief in the wind and ordered, "Have someone step aside. I have received the emperor's order to bring the auspicious sign from the mountain back to the palace."
Upon hearing this, Sun Shaozong hurriedly asked everyone to make way for a mountain road, but he became more and more certain in his heart that this matter was not simple - at least not as he initially thought, that a time traveler had invented the hot air balloon and caused the commotion.
Speaking of Eunuch Dai, he is quite decisive and efficient.
It comes quickly and goes quickly!
About half an hour later, a group of people were seen coming down the mountain in a mighty procession. In the middle, besides the two sedan chairs, there was also a hot air balloon that was mostly burned.
Judging from the shape and size of the hanging basket, there was a high probability that it was carrying people. However, Sun Shaozong went through the entire team and did not see anyone who looked like they were in disguise.
In the green velvet sedan?
It seems that the reason for the mobilization is indeed because of the people on board, not the hot air balloon itself!
After seeing off Dai Quan and "Xiangrui", there was naturally nothing left to defend in Wuhuang Mountain.
So Sun Shaozong discussed with the generals of the Huben Army and decided to leave only a small number of people to guard the foot of the mountain, while the rest returned to the city - after all, order in the city also needed manpower to maintain.
However, Sun Shaozong did not return to the city directly.
It's so hard to get out here, how can I not go to the refugee camp and visit my cheap brother?
However, after Sun Shaozong had found out the direction, he galloped along the official road. After running for about ten miles, he saw countless thatched huts in front of him, guarding a military camp.
Although the refugee camp was in a mess, Sun Shaozong was riding a horse and carrying a sword, and he looked very strong, so no one was so blind as to dare to block his way.
So they arrived at the gate of the military camp without any obstruction. Sun Shaozong was about to explain his purpose when he saw a young man on the side of the road rubbing his head against the ground, shouting, "General, please have mercy and return Ying'er to me!"
His forehead was bruised and covered with dried blood, and it was obvious that he had been kneeling for some time - but the soldiers guarding the camp gate turned a blind eye to him.
This posture...
Could it be that his cheap brother had robbed his woman?
"Master Sun?!"
At this moment, a man came out in surprise and said, "Are you here to visit my general?"
This man seemed to be a captain under my cheap elder brother, but I couldn’t remember his specific name, Sun Shaozong.
Raising his chin towards the young man who kowtowed, Sun Shaozong asked, "What's wrong with this guy?"
The captain glanced at the young man and said nonchalantly, "This fellow insisted that the girl the general bought this morning was his childhood sweetheart, and he kept clamoring for the general to give her to him. If it weren't for his reputation as a scholar, I would have had him chased away long ago."
Sun Shaozong raised his eyebrows: "Childhood sweethearts? Are you engaged?"
Before the captain opened his mouth, the kowtowed scholar rushed in and shouted, "Although there is no matchmaker, sister Ying'er and I have long been in love with each other. Heaven is our witness, and the earth is our witness..."
Before he could finish, Sun Shaozong urged his horse into the military camp.
If there was an engagement, he might have thought twice about it, but how could the friendship given privately these days compare to an indenture contract bought with real money?
But Sun Shaozong was not a heartless person after all. After entering the gate, he lowered his voice and said, "If this kid kneels until tomorrow morning, you can ask him to go to my house to pick him up."
The captain responded quickly.
Sun Shaozong was surprised and asked, "Oh, right? Didn't His Majesty allocate a lot of money for disaster relief? Why are there still people selling their children?"
The captain explained: "Your Excellency, you don't know that after a disaster, there is often an epidemic. The young brother of the woman was infected with the epidemic, and she had no money to hire a doctor to treat him, so she had to sell her daughter to save her son's life."
Tsk~
It turns out that it’s all due to the preference for boys over girls.
