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Many things in this world are both coincidence and necessity.
When various forces launch operations in the same area, there is a high probability that these operations will collide with each other.
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In ancient times, it was taboo for both the army and the people to travel overnight, but Ouyang Bo, Qian Bodao, and Guo Min, in order to join Huo Zhengyuan as soon as possible, did not care about such a thing. Not only did they travel overnight, but they also worked hard, hoping We can arrive in time when Nanjing City opens its gates tomorrow morning.
Fortunately, the official road in South Zhili was well repaired. It was spacious, straight, and solid and flat, allowing the carriage to run freely, so the trip went smoothly at first.
However, when they finally entered the jurisdiction of Nanjing, the speed of their journey suddenly slowed down.
Ouyang Bo noticed something was wrong. He immediately opened the curtain of the carriage and asked the coachman, "What's going on? Why did the speed suddenly slow down?"
The driver quickly replied: "For some reason, the road suddenly became muddy... Water kept pouring out from the northwest and spread to the official road. It must be the plum rain season. It rained just yesterday."
Ouyang Bo, however, was alert and immediately shook his head and said: "No way! If it rains, it rains in Suzhou as well, and the terrain is even lower. Why isn't it as muddy as here?"
After saying that, Ouyang Bo tried his best to look into the distance under the moonlight, and sure enough he found that water was pouring out from the northwest and spreading near the official road, and the water potential was gradually expanding.
"Is there another heavy rain in the northwest? It doesn't look like the sky is..."
Ouyang Bo murmured to himself.
In the carriage, Guo Min, who was sitting aside, asked, "Do you want to send someone to the northwest to investigate? I also feel that something is wrong."
Qian Bodao shook his head and said, "Don't be distracted. Our top priority is to rush to Nanjing City to meet up with Academician Huo."
After Ouyang Bo thought for a moment, he ordered: "Let's not stop, let's continue on the road with all our strength and rush to Nanjing as soon as possible. But at the same time, we also arrange for two smart people to investigate the situation along the direction of the spread of the water... The water is so strong, Just don't let it be a flood! The situation in South Zhili is already complicated enough. If another flood suddenly breaks out at this time, I'm afraid..."
Following Ouyang Bo's instructions, two escorts left the team, left the official road, and ran towards the northwest.
And in their northwest direction, more than ten miles away, is the location of the embankment that the "Chaofeng" soldiers are digging with all their strength!
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At the same time, Hu Xiao and his more than ten pirate desperadoes, who were following the front team from afar, also discovered the situation of the front team.
"Boss Hu, two people in the front team broke away from the team and left the official road. It seems that they went to the northwest, but the distance is too far and the night is too dark. We can't see the specific situation clearly, and we don't know the two people who left the team. Who are the people...what should we do? Should we allocate manpower to follow those two people?"
A desperado asked Hu Xiao.
Hu Xiao had a solemn expression and frowned.
He also discovered that the road was too muddy, but there were no dark clouds in the night sky within his field of vision. It was obviously not raining in the nearby area, so where did a large amount of water gush out and spread to the official road?
The most important thing is, and for some unknown reason, a sense of crisis is gradually emerging deep in Hu Xiao's heart, as if danger is approaching him, and it seems that he is actively approaching the danger in ignorance.
This sense of crisis has no reason, it just comes from instinctive premonition, but Hu Xiao has always believed in his premonition, because this premonition has helped him avoid several crises.
After thinking for a moment, Hu Xiao ordered: "Gao Dayan! You have the most alert temperament and good eyesight. It's up to you to keep an eye on the two people who left the team to see what they want to do... I remind you, you must Make sure you keep your whereabouts hidden, and would rather lose them than expose yourself... I always feel that something is wrong, but I just can't explain it..."
After hearing Hu Xiao's instructions, a short, small-eyed desperado immediately agreed, then left the team and quickly disappeared to the northwest of the official road.
This "Tall Eyes" is obviously a short man with small eyes, but he has the gangster nickname "Tall Eyes" because this person is actually one of the "heads" among the pirates in the South Seas.
The so-called "head" refers to the person who stands at the top of the mast to look at the sea conditions when the ship is sailing. He needs to detect changes in the sea conditions and nearby ships at the first time. Therefore, only those who have excellent eyesight, alert personality, and can do it for a long time Only those who stay focused are qualified to take on the responsibility.
Therefore, Hu Xiao can feel at ease by leaving the task of tracking alone to this tall guy.
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Just when Ouyang Bo, Hu Xiao and others noticed the abnormality, Lu De and Jiang Xiao continued to test each other near the northwest dike.
"How long has this 'Chaofeng' organization been established?"
Hearing Lu De's inquiry, Jiang Xiao shook his head and said: "I don't know, but when I joined 'Chaofeng' six or seven years ago, the organization was still very small..."
Six or seven years ago!
After hearing this number, Lu De's expression kept changing.
Six or seven years ago, many things happened in the government and the public.
At that time, the current crown prince Zhu Heyu had just secured his throne, but he had clearly shown his rejection and displeasure towards the former crown prince and grand master He Ming, so He Ming quickly resigned from Emperor Deqing and returned home. I went to teach at Yingtian Academy.
The imperial mental skills that He Ming taught to Prince Zhu Heyu were certainly not in line with Zhu Heyu's temperament at the time, but He Ming's personal charm was extremely high. Logically speaking, Zhu Heyu should not be so repulsive anyway. Because of being provoked in private.
In short, some people hope that Zhu Heyu can continue to remain "simple" and "kind", and do not want Zhu Heyu to learn more from He Ming.
At that time, Emperor Deqing was also considering canonizing the seventh prince Zhu Hejian as a vassal king, allowing him to stay away from the center of the capital and go to a fiefdom to sit in power. From that time on, Zhu Hejian suddenly became increasingly frail and sickly.
In addition, Zhu Heyu and Zhu Hejian had a deep brotherly relationship and repeatedly appealed to Emperor Deqing for mercy. This is why Zhu Hejian, the older prince, has not been canonized and has been stranded in the center of the capital.
During that time, the famous gangsters "Eight Xiaos" who had been operating in the three provinces of Shandong, Huguang and Nanzhili for many years were arrested one after another. Except for Hu Xiao, the leader of the eight gangsters, who was missing, the other seven gangsters were all taken away. In the capital, he was executed by the government in public!
As he kept thinking in his mind, Lu De turned his head again and looked at Jiang Xiao, who had a mouth as loose as a belt and knew everything, and asked another sensitive question: "Your name is Jiang Xiao, but... I don’t know which word it is? Xiao unrestrained Xiao? Chun Xiao de Xiao? Or Shengxiao Xiao?”
Jiang Xiao was still unprepared, and answered directly with a smile: "No, it's the leader of the owl, the owl of the owl hero!"
Although he had already guessed in his mind, Lu De still never expected that Jiang Xiao would answer his question so directly.
Lu De couldn't help but his expression changed again, and asked slowly: "Looking at your age, you must be in your forties, right? But I don't know what you did before joining the 'Chaofeng'?"
Jiang Xiao said slowly: "A soldier! Before I was thirty years old, I had been the Ye Bushou of Liaodong Town, and I had good military exploits. I personally killed two Tatars, and also served as the chief flag officer. I once also I had a great chance to join the Liaodong cavalry, but it was a pity... Once the Jurchens from Jianzhou came to attack, and seeing that the Tatars were about to attack the city gate, I led my people to quickly lock the city gate, and also blocked some Liaodong people who wanted to enter the city to escape. The people blocked the outside of the city and watched helplessly as they were slaughtered by the Tatars!
This kind of thing was nothing at first. It was not only commonplace, but also considered the overall situation. The people were as lowly as grass and grass. The people in Liaodong were especially worthless. No one cared about their life or death. But among the people in Liaodong who were killed by the Tatars that time, There were a few people with good backgrounds, so I took the blame, and some were jealous that I was too pushy in the past, so they added insult to injury...
But I was not willing to sit back and wait for death, so I slaughtered all the villains who made trouble at night, including a Liaodong Baihu, and then escaped from the Liaodong Defense Area! Mr. Lu, you also know that there have been countless deserters in the border towns of the imperial court over the years, so after I escaped from Liaodong Town, I met a few people in similar situations soon after, and we were like-minded, so we became sworn brothers. Then the grass turns into a bandit. "
Jiang Xiao's detailed introduction was simply saying that he was one of the "Eight Xiaos" back then.
As far as Lu De knew, five of the "Eight Owls" back then had military backgrounds in border towns.
Because Jiang Xiao's answer was too direct, Lu De was at a loss for a while and did not even dare to ask further.
Lu De was a little worried. If he continued to ask questions, Jiang Xiao would directly tell him some top-secret information that he should not know yet.
But after Jiang Xiao saw the change in Lu De's expression, his attitude became more polite and said: "Mr. Lu, if you want to know anything else, just keep asking me... I will definitely answer everything I know and hide nothing."
Lu De immediately shook his head and said: "I don't have anything to ask anymore, I'm just chatting to pass the time... Your Excellency is too frank, so I don't dare to talk to you in depth."
Jiang Xiao shrugged and said with a half-smile: "But I haven't finished talking yet! Since Mr. Lu doesn't want to ask me again, how about I ask Mr. Lu? I know everything about Mr. Lu, so I can't answer it." Mr. Lu should also be honest with me, this is fair, right?"
Afterwards, Jiang Xiao asked directly without waiting for Lu De's response: "I don't know, Mr. Lu, why do you want to surrender to His Highness the Seventh Prince? Of course, the Seventh Prince is the future prince, and it is normal for him to want to surrender to him, but Mr. Lu There are too many chips on the Seventh Prince, right?"
Jiang Xiao's questioning attitude was too aggressive, which made Lu De frown and look dissatisfied.
But in the end, Lu De still turned to stare at Jiang Xiao and replied slowly: "Why do you want to serve the Seventh Prince? You also said that the Seventh Prince is the future prince. No matter how much money you invest in him, you will never lose money. ! What's more, His Highness the Seventh Prince is a wise master, and assisting him has always been my wish!"
Lude is lying!
After hearing Lu De's answer, Jiang Xiao immediately concluded this!
Over the years, Jiang Xiao gradually mastered a method of inferring other people's emotions.
According to later generations, this method is "micro-expression psychology".
Shaking shoulders is most likely due to lack of confidence when speaking. Holding one's hand on one's forehead is most likely to hide inner shame. Scratching one's nose is most likely lying. Inadvertently tilting the body to distance the two parties is also most likely lying. Maintaining a surprised expression for more than There is a high probability that it is disguise for a moment...
Jiang Xiao has already mastered a lot of relevant experience.
Overall, Lu De performed well and controlled his body reactions very well. He did not shake his shoulders, raise his hands to scratch his nose, or move his body to increase the distance between the two parties...
But after all, Lu De was still young and had no relevant experience, so he still exposed two flaws.
First, when Lu De answered the question, he did not avoid his gaze and looked directly at Jiang Xiao, as if he wanted to prove that he had a clear conscience.
But according to Jiang Xiao's experience, this kind of direct gaze often means that the relevant answers have been prepared in the heart, and there is a high probability that he is lying!
The second is that Lu De subconsciously repeated Jiang Xiao's inquiry before answering the question in detail.
According to Jiang Xiao's experience, this situation means that Lu De is guilty of guilt and wants to use this method of repeating questions to buy himself time to sort out his emotions, which is most likely a lie.
Therefore, based on these two points alone, Jiang Xiao can basically conclude that Lu De is most likely lying!
However, it’s just “basic” and “high probability”.
This method of judgment can be effective eight or nine times out of ten, but after all, there may still be one or two mistakes.
What's more, there are many reasons for lying. Even if Lu De doesn't really want to serve the Seventh Prince, it doesn't mean that he has other agendas and is not well-intentioned.
Therefore, Jiang Xiao was ready to continue questioning.
After three or five more questions and answers, Jiang Xiao could roughly figure out Lu De's true position.
However, just when Jiang Xiao wanted to continue questioning, and just when Lu De wanted to refuse to answer, a "Chaofeng" dead soldier suddenly came from a distance.
After running in front of Jiang Xiao, the "Chaofeng" dead man quickly reported: "Master Xiao, two people came from the official road in the southeast and are heading straight to us. They are only three to five miles away from us." !Although I don’t know the specific origins of these two people and why they acted overnight, it should be that too much water poured out of several cracks caused by our excavation of the dam. This water has spread to the nearby official road in the distance, so let them These two people discovered something unusual, so they came to investigate the situation!"
After hearing this, Jiang Xiao's face immediately darkened, and he waved his hand and said: "Catch them immediately! Torture them to torture them about their origins and intentions! We must not let anyone discover the truth about the construction of the dam!"
The "Chaofeng" dead soldier nodded, then turned around and left quickly.
After being interrupted by this incident, Jiang Xiao no longer had the intention to test Lu De again.
From Jiang Xiao's point of view, he will still have a long time and many opportunities to continue testing Lu De in the future, so there is no need to rush. The top priority now is to eliminate hidden dangers and never let anyone find out that they dug up the dam.
What happened next was natural.
The two people who came to the nearby area to investigate the situation were naturally the accompanying guards of Ouyang Bo, Qian Bodao, and Guo Min. Although they also knew some martial arts, they could never be the opponents of the "Chaofeng" dead soldier.
Therefore, when the "Chaofeng" dead man took action, he quickly captured these two people alive, quickly interrogated them about their origins and intentions, and then immediately reported the relevant information to Jiang Xiao.
However, even the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers did not notice that when they were acting, there was a Nanyang pirate lurking in the distance, and he saw all their actions.
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"Huo Zhengyuan's staff are near the route? Did they find anything unusual?"
After hearing the news, Jiang Xiao was thoughtful.
Jiang Xiao still remembered that the last task given to him by the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian was to cause heavy casualties to the people around Huo Zhengyuan as much as possible, so that Huo Zhengyuan could be completely frightened.
Jiang Xiao did not expect that just over a day later, he would meet Huo Zhengyuan's staff again.
The "Chaofeng" soldier who reported the news asked: "Master Xiao, what should we do next? Because there have been cracks in the dam and the water has gradually spread to the vicinity of the official road, causing the road to be muddy, Huo Zhengyuan's aides have also It was an overnight operation, so they must not have gone far yet. Do we want to..."
As he spoke, the "Chaofeng" dead man stretched out his palm and waved it down fiercely, obviously with the intention of killing and silencing him.
Seeing this "Chaofeng" dead man openly discussing the matter of killing and silencing in front of him, Lu De frowned and said: "It's not necessary to kill and silence, right? Huo Zhengyuan's aides only noticed some abnormalities and did not discover more truth. , we just need to silence those two spies!"
On the other side, Jiang Xiao turned to look at the embankment that the "Chaofeng" soldiers were digging with all their strength.
At this moment, under the constant digging of the "Chaofeng" warriors, several cracks have appeared in the embankment. Due to the impact of water pressure and water flow, these cracks are still expanding rapidly, and gravels continue to fall from the cracks. Fall nearby.
Obviously, this dyke can no longer hold on for long, and it may completely collapse at any time, causing a dyke burst and floods.
After seeing this situation, Jiang Xiao sneered: "This dam will collapse soon, and then a flood will be released... Since Huo Zhengyuan's staff have not gone far, they must experience this first-hand. There is a flood. Even if we don't take action, they may not have a chance to escape this disaster. If we send people to kill them, the people who take action will be affected by the flood, which may cause unnecessary losses... So there is no need to send anyone to take action, but I urge those on the embankment to speed up their actions. I will see the rolling river water rushing out of the embankment within a quarter of an hour!"
And just as Jiang Xiao was giving these instructions, the pirate named "Tall Eyes" from South Asia was also secretly following the "Chaofeng" dead soldier and lurking nearby.
Then, Gao Dayan saw with horror the crumbling embankment that might completely collapse at any time, as well as the "Chaofeng" dead soldiers who were trying their best to dig down the embankment.
Once the river breaks its banks, everything within twenty or thirty miles downstream will quickly become a vast ocean!
Gao Dayan was so horrified that he naturally did not dare to stay. He quickly turned around and ran back, wanting to inform Hu Xiao of the news immediately.
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PS: In the previous chapter, when Jiang Xiao appeared, Chongzi was distracted and subconsciously began to think about the follow-up treatment of the character Jiang Zheng. As a result, he wrote several wrong names and wrote Lu De as Jiang Zheng. Now it has been revised. Please refresh and you will see the correct content. I'm very sorry.
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