The injury was mostly healed, and on the way to Lan Country, Gu Qi took a carriage and followed Song Lian's carriage, and the journey was uneventful.
The group of people drove to the border of Qingzhou, the border of Lan State, when the carriage suddenly stopped. Hearing the noise in front, Gu Qi got out of the car and walked forward slowly with the help of the servant.
"I am Song Lian of the prefecture! Why haven't you let me go yet?"
I saw Song Lian being blocked at the city gate by two guards armed with weapons. All the people around him dispersed. A man in armor led a few soldiers forward and asked, "But Mr. Song Lian, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel?"
"Exactly!" Song Lian put his hands on his hips and stared at the person who came.
"Fart!" the leader of the soldiers roared, frightening Song Lian to the point of trembling, and his momentum suddenly weakened by seven or eight points.
"Master Song is far away in the county, and there is no record of the mission in the customs register. How could Master Song appear from Qingzhou? If you recruit him truthfully, you can avoid some physical pain!"
Gu Qi secretly looked at the surrounding environment. Farmers and merchants came and went without checking them. This group of soldiers was so fast that they seemed to be well prepared. She held the boy's arm next to her tightly, lowered her head and coughed twice, then covered her mouth and nose with a coarse cloth handkerchief, and looked up at the tower.
The sun was shining, making it difficult to see. Gu Qi squinted slightly and saw a neat row of soldiers holding spears and guns, standing apart, no more than two feet apart.
wrong! With a glance from the corner of his eye, he vaguely spotted a figure standing four or five people away from him on the left, standing among the soldiers. Then a flying arrow shot out from where the man was standing!
His slightly squinted eyes widened instantly, and the shiny arrow flashed dazzlingly under the sunlight. This is the goal!
Gu Qi was startled, and pulled the boy back and began to retreat. The moment he lifted his breath, his chest began to hurt, and then he couldn't stop coughing violently. He had to push the boy away with all his strength, and his body was also taken out. The arrow grazed the boy. arm, inserted directly into the soil.
"Are you going to rebel?" Song Lian, who was arguing in the front, saw this scene and stamped his feet anxiously. "Call your general! Call your general!"
This fall brought out the old wound on his chest. The pain of tearing made Gu Qi breathless. With the help of the boy, he staggered to his feet. Blood spread along the damaged lines of his clothes.
"Master Song?"
Hearing the sound, he looked up and saw a man wearing silver-gray armor and riding a black horse slowly approaching. It wasn't until he got close that Gu Qi saw his face clearly. The wind and sand blowing in the border area made his face turn yellow, but he could still see his fair complexion behind his ears and on his neck. He was probably no more than twenty-six or seventeen years old. The voice he spoke was louder than ordinary people, which showed that he had been on the battlefield for a long time and his martial arts would not be any worse. This should be the famous Protector General Rong Di.
"Why is Lord Song here in my Qingzhou territory? Could it be that he has returned from the Yun Kingdom? But in my pass book, there is no record of Lord Song leaving the customs." Rong Di sat on his horse and looked down at Song Lian. His hand touched the sword.
Song Lian suddenly panicked, raised his hand and pointed directly at Gu Qi: "We are returning from Zezhou, but we took a long detour."
"Why the detour? Could it be to inquire about the war ahead?" Rong Di's aggressive question left Song Lian speechless. Although he held an important position, he was under the control of others in this borderland.
"General Ming Jian!" Seeing that Song Lian was unable to justify himself, Gu Qi had no choice but to step forward quickly and knelt down with a "plop".
"Who are you?" Rong Di shouted, and the surrounding soldiers quickly gathered and surrounded Song Lian and Gu Qi.
Gu Qiqiang endured the pain of the wound and said: "General, Pei Qihuan, a grassroots citizen of Zezhou, and his father, Pei Wan, serves in the Zezhou government office."
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Song Lian, who was raising his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
"Pei Qihuan?" Rong Di murmured, as if remembering something, and said in surprise: "You are far away in Zezhou, how could you come here with Mr. Song?"
"The general noticed clearly that Mr. Song had arrived in Zezhou. Seeing that I would be rushing to the capital to take office soon after receiving the holy edict, he called me to go with him." Gu Qi took out his handkerchief and coughed twice, bit his tongue hard, and the blood Flow into the veil.
She pretended to be weak and inadvertently presented the blood to Rong Di, and then slowly put the handkerchief into her sleeve. She said with a sense of fatigue: "But I am not in good health. There are many rivers near Zezhou. Although the waterway is fast, there are many obstacles along the way." But it was hard to find a doctor, so we took a detour."
When Rong Di saw this, he was convinced. Japan wanted to detain Song Lian today, but it never thought that Pei Qihuan and Song Lian were on the same road, clearing Song Lian's suspicion of collaborating with the enemy.
After thinking for a while, Rong Di pointed to the soldiers beside him and said, "Search!"
The two soldiers obeyed the order and walked straight towards the two carriages.
At the same time, Rong Di got off his horse and helped Gu Qi up expressionlessly. He pressed his thumb hard on Gu Qi's wound, which made Gu Qi grit his teeth in pain.
"General!" The two soldiers took out the two bundles from the carriage. Rong Di opened the two bundles and saw several bundles of medicinal materials and a few scattered small porcelain bottles in the black burlap bundle. In another navy blue cotton package, there are several commonly used clothes. On the top of the clothes is an official uniform. Next to the official hat is a satin book with gold edges, which is Pei Qihuan's appointment document.
"In that case, I would like to ask you two to rest in the mansion for one night. The Japanese general will personally escort you two back to the county tomorrow." Rong Di made a "please" gesture, and the surrounding soldiers opened the way and stood upright beside him.
Song Lian was still in shock and said in a trembling voice: "Then, trouble the general." His legs were shaking so much that he couldn't take a single step, so he had to let the boy help him back to the car.
Rong Di was still holding Pei Qihuan's appointment documents at this time, as if he was thinking about something, and looked at it from time to time.
If I keep looking at it like this, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold it any longer.
Gu Qi stepped forward and saluted: "General? But what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry." Rong Di handed the document to Gu Qi, cupped his hands and bowed deeply. This attitude was completely different from before. Gu Qi was suspicious, but had no clue yet. After returning the gift, he got into the carriage and followed Rong Di's horse to the general's mansion.
When they arrived at the General's Mansion, Rong Di settled Gu Qi and Song Lian in the wing and did not show up again.
That night
At the end of the second floor of Hongxiu Building, separated by a row of bead curtains, Rong Di said respectfully outside: "Your Highness."
In the room, a man sat at the table, wearing a navy blue silk shirt, with two dragons hugging each other embroidered with golden embroidery thread on his chest, and red gems inlaid in the eye-catching spots. There is a green and white round jade on the waist. The edge of the round jade is engraved with a green suanni animal, connected head to tail. The inside is white to transparent, and the ends are decorated with bright yellow tassels.
Seeing someone coming, he slowly put down the tea cup, picked up the handkerchief on the table and wiped his mouth. "how?"
"The guard who released Song Lian privately has been executed. I planned to arrest Song Lian on the grounds of liaison with the enemy when I returned, but unexpectedly..."
"Um?"
Rong Di frowned, turned and looked at the door, then lowered his voice and said, "Unexpectedly, Pei Qihuan, who took office from Zezhou, arrived in Qingzhou with Song Lian."
"Pei Qihuan?" He murmured, and then looked at Rong Di outside the curtain: "Are you sure he is the poor scholar promoted by His Majesty?"
Rong Di nodded and replied: "The general thought he was a spy sent by Yun State, and wanted to get rid of him quickly. Unexpectedly, he didn't know any martial arts, and his subordinates shot him, causing an old illness and coughing up blood. Later, the general examined him. Chariots and horses, his official uniform and appointment documents were found.”
After listening to Rong Di's description, he snorted coldly and said: "If it is really Pei Qihuan, who walked here from Zezhou with Song Lian, I still need to carefully consider whether he can be used by me. If not..."
"Will you test me again?"
The man raised his hand and said, "No need. If you continue to tempt me, you are clearly looking for trouble, which will only hurt your harmony."
The rooms in the General's Mansion were simply furnished, and few people came after dinner.
Gu Qi sat at the table, staring at the bandaged wound on her arm in a daze. Recalling the scene of the daytime investigation, the confusion in my heart remains unsolved.
There is no record of Song Lian leaving the country in Qingzhou, so where did Song Lian go to Yun State from?
Today Rong Di knew that I was Pei Qihuan, why did he suddenly change his attitude?
Who is the person who assassinated me?
Really unable to think of a clue, Gu Qi got up and went straight to Song Lian's bedroom, wanting to find out.
Pushing the door open, he saw Song Lianzheng pulling Yingge to drink wine, his stubby hands groping restlessly.
"Cough." Gu Qi turned his head slightly and coughed.
"Oh, who do I think it is?" Song Lian glanced at Gu Qi and flirted with Yingge as if nothing had happened.
Seeing Song Lian's attitude, Gu Qi felt a little embarrassed. She rushed over, grabbed Yingge next to her, stared at Song Lian and said, "Master Song, I have something to ask you."
Yingge looked at Song Lian timidly, saw Song Lian nodded, and quietly backed out.
"Tell me," Song Lian raised his eyebrows, picked up the jug and poured wine, hunched over, and made the wine glass sizzle.
Gu Qi walked around behind him, stared at his neck and asked, "Shouldn't there be an explanation for what happened today?"
"Who do you think you are? Are you starting to arouse me? Even your master, burp~" Song Lian's cheeks turned red after drinking, and he raised his hand and shook it from side to side, "Even your master has to respect me. ..”
Gu Qi originally disliked Song Lian. Today, when he saw Song Lian timid under the city gate, he knew that he had no backing in Qingzhou. In this case, why not give him a blow so that he can be obedient in the future?
Thinking of this, Gu Qi took out the dagger from his waist and strangled Song Lian's neck with his arms!
"You, what are you doing?!" The shining tip of the knife was facing Song Lian's eyes. He was trembling with fright, and he was sober from drinking.
"Do you think there will be any good consequences if I expose you for your liaison with the enemy?"
"I...I'm telling you, without me, you wouldn't know how you would die in this huge Lan country!"
"Then try it!" Gu Qi raised the dagger and made a downward motion, and Song Lian suddenly panicked.
"No, no, keep me, it will be of great use. Whatever you want to ask, young hero, just ask."
Gu Qi snorted and let go, sitting next to Song Lian.
Song Lian's face turned from white to red, he coughed hard twice, and breathed in the fresh air with his mouth wide open.
"Let me ask you, why is there no record of your exit from customs in Qingzhou's customs register?"
Song Lian raised his hand to wipe his face, thought for a while and said: "In order to facilitate access, I bribed the officials and never registered my contacts. It's just..."
"But what?"
"It's just that when I returned to the city today, the guard seemed to have changed."
Gu Qi frowned and asked: "Rong Di knew that I was Pei Qihuan, and his attitude suddenly changed. Do you know why?"
"This is because Pei Qihuan belongs to His Majesty."
"His Majesty's people?"
"Well, Pei Qihuan once wrote a good plan for flood control in the provincial examination, so he was promoted by His Majesty without taking the imperial examination."
I see.
Gu Qi continued to ask: "Do you know the person who shot me on the city wall today?"
"I don't know that."
Gu Qi stared at Song Lian and saw that he didn't seem to be hiding anything in his words, so he stood up and left the room.
At this time, Yingge was standing at the door. When she saw Gu Qi coming out, she saluted and said, "Don't worry, sir, no one has come."
Although we had little contact with each other in Korea in the past, there was an invisible sense of closeness in a foreign country.
Gu Qi felt even more pity when she thought of Yingge, a flower-like person, going to serve Song Lian.
This is a slave, one cannot control his own destiny.
Just when he was about to open his mouth to comfort me, he suddenly thought, isn't he also a slave?
What kind of fate will he face soon?
