"Do you know the person who shot me on the city wall today?"
"I don't know that."
Gu Qi returned to the room, recalling Song Lian's answer in her mind, and became even more confused.
Are the people shot on the city wall the same group of masked men? If so, who assigned it? If not, how many people want my life or Pei Qihuan's life?
I don’t know whether it’s because I have too many doubts in my heart or because I’m not adaptable to the new environment. It’s already the fourth watch, but I still don’t feel sleepy. Well, since I can't sleep, I might as well go for a walk.
Gu Qi stood up from the bed, unpacked the baggage around her, found an old cloak, put it on her body, and quietly walked out. The weather has just entered autumn, but the nights are much cooler.
It was still dark outside, and the moon in the sky was slightly hazy. When it hit the ground, it was not bright, but it was enough.
Gu Qi took a deep breath, walked forward along the road paved with bluestone slabs, and stood in the center of the courtyard. The surrounding walls were like a splash-ink painting, a bit more solemn than in the daytime.
I once heard from a boy in the mansion that this courtyard is adjacent to the martial arts school in the east and the Green Bamboo Pavilion in the west. It's a good idea to go and have a look while there's no one around.
Slowly walking westward along the gravel road, after walking thirty steps, sparse bamboos began to appear on both sides of the gravel road, leaving mottled shadows on the ground under the dim moonlight.
Gu Qi tugged on her outer cloak, rubbed her sore nose, and continued walking forward.
At the end of the road is a pond with a promenade to the south, a pavilion to the north, and a wooden plank bridge in the middle of the pond. He turned right and walked towards the pavilion, but within a few feet of his sight, he vaguely saw a figure.
The tall body stood upright in front of the pavilion, as if to explain something.
Gu Qifang walked lightly and got closer.
A man was kneeling in front of him with a machete on his back.
Then his voice was heard: "This matter is of great importance. We must find someone and verify it clearly."
The man clasped his hands in his fists and shouted, "Yes!" Then he walked toward the west and jumped out of the wall.
"Now that you're here, why are you hiding in the dark?"
The sound startled Gu Qi.
Gu Qi coughed dryly and stepped forward generously: "I don't know if there is someone here, sorry to bother you."
Turning around to leave, a strong wind surged behind me!
Before he could react, his shoulders were tightly held by him, making him unable to move!
"Who are you?"
Gu Qi swallowed nervously: "I am Pei Qihuan, a native of Zezhou."
The strength in his hand increased, and a cold light shone in his eyes: "Are you Pei Qihuan?"
"Yes...yes." Gu Qi felt a chill down his spine and smiled dryly: "I didn't expect that the weather would be so cold just after autumn."
He let go of his hand, walked to the stone table, sat down, and poured a cup of tea: "The dew is heavy at night, so have some tea to warm yourself up."
Gu Qi stood there, her hands and feet so nervous that they were cold. I thought to myself: This person's martial arts skills are better than mine, but he must not show any flaws.
"how?"
Gu Qi calmed down, sat down, picked up the tea cup and said, "Thank you very much."
He narrowed his eyes slightly and saw Gu Qi drinking the tea in one gulp, pointing at the teacup and saying, "Aren't you afraid that I'll poison it?"
Gu Qi pretended to be relaxed and turned the tea cup in his hand, smiling: "You and I are strangers, what is the reason for killing me?"
"Reason?" He chuckled and grabbed Gu Qi's arm, causing the wound to hurt again. "Because you are a spy from an enemy country. Is this a good reason?"
"Hahahahaha..." Gu Qi laughed, cold air penetrated into his throat, itching and started to cough violently. "If I were careful, how could I be easily controlled by you and end up in this embarrassing situation?"
He snorted coldly and let go of his hand.
"Where is Mr. Pei's home in Zezhou?"
"Meiyu Village on the southwest boundary."
"Oh? Meiyu Village is a good place. No wonder it can produce talents like Mr. Pei." He took a sip from the teacup and asked, "Is there anyone else at home?"
Gu Qi stopped looking at him, lightly wiping the rim of the cup with her fingertips, and said unhurriedly: "The only son in the family coincides with the decline of the family, and the relatives no longer interact with each other."
"Master Song, the prefect of Zezhou, is your body still strong?"
"I'm afraid your memory is wrong. Song Ran, the prefect of Zezhou, is only twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He is at the age to serve the country. How can he be said to be tough?"
"Then it seems that I remembered it wrong."
There is only so much that I know. I'm afraid if we continue talking, our identity will be exposed.
Gu Qi stood up straight away: "It's getting late, the common people should leave first."
"Pei Qihuan."
Turning around to leave, his voice came from behind. Gu Qi turned around and asked, "What are your orders, sir?"
He looked surprised and asked, "Why do you call me 'Sir'?"
Gu Qi smiled: "Those who can freely come and go in the General's Mansion are certainly not ordinary people. What's more, with your outfit, you are either rich or noble."
"Heh, interesting."
"If nothing happens, sir, the common people will go back."
"Um."
Seeing that he didn't ask any more questions, Gu Qixuan finally felt relieved and quickly left the pavilion. He kept his head down all the way and just walked quickly, and he was caught off guard and bumped into someone.
"Ouch!" The man took a step back in pain. Gu Qi looked up and saw that it was Rong Di who was standing aggressively at the city gate during the day.
"Sorry General Rong, I was just thinking about something and didn't want to bump into you!"
Rong Di rubbed his chin and waved his hand: "It's okay. Where did Mr. Pei go so late?"
"Oh," Gu Qi pointed to the pavilion to the west and said, "I really couldn't sleep, so I thought of going out for a walk."
"Can't sleep?" Rong Di looked to the west and frowned. He was about to say something but was interrupted by Gu Qi.
"Where are you going, General? Can't you sleep?"
"No, I want to go to the martial arts school."
At that time, the sound of the night watch was heard outside the house, and it was already five o'clock in the morning.
"I didn't expect the general to be so diligent. He got up to practice martial arts at the fifth watch."
Rong Di grinned: "It's just a stupid bird that flew first, not hard work. But my husband is very knowledgeable. Your Majesty is lucky to have your husband to help you."
"It's still a while before dawn, and I really can't sleep. Can I go to the martial arts school with you and have a glimpse of the general?"
"Haha, Mr. Pei is really good at talking," Rong Di smiled even more happily. He glanced at the wound on Gu Qi's arm and couldn't help but frown: "Is the injury okay?"
Gu Qi shook his head: "It's just a skin injury."
"Okay." Rong Di made a "please" gesture and walked side by side towards the east martial arts school grounds with Gu Qi.
The straight bluestone road is close to the courtyard wall, with no weeds around it. The road is not wide and can only accommodate two people walking side by side. When I reached the corner of the wall, I suddenly saw a large courtyard with weapons of various colors neatly arranged on the weapon racks, which glowed silver under the moonlight.
Rong Di approached the shelf, picked up the spear and started to dance. The pick of the spear was crisp and clean, and the red tassel on the spear also swung. It was as if the spear had become spiritual in his hands. It was really beautiful. After finishing a set of marksmanship, he put the red tassel gun back to its original position and walked straight towards Gu Qi.
"What a skill, General!"
He took out a sweat towel and wiped his sweat, smiling shyly. "Sir, if you are not sleepy, why not go down and enjoy the sunrise."
"sunrise?"
He nodded, pointed to the courtyard wall behind Gu Qi and said: "This is to the east, outside the city gate. This courtyard wall is the highest point in my house. From the top, you can just see the sun rising. "
After hearing his description, Gu Qi instantly became interested and agreed.
Seeing Gu Qi's skinny appearance, Rong Di thought that he was also a nerd who didn't know how to do martial arts.
He came over, took Gu Qi's arm, and lifted Gu Qi up.
"You, what are you going to do?" Gu Qi was startled by this sudden move.
"Take you up."
"Ah?" Before responding, Rong Di jumped up and went straight to the room.
Rong Di's shoulders were as hard as rocks. The moment they rose, they hit his stomach, causing Gu Qi to grit his teeth in pain.
He helped Gu Qi sit firmly and took out a bag of candied fruits from under the tiles beside him.
Gu Qi stuffed the candied fruit into her mouth and complained, "Do you know that it hurts to resist someone like this?"
"Does it hurt?" Rong Di threw a candied fruit into his mouth, shrugged and said, "No, you are very light, I didn't feel any pain."
"I'm talking about me, I'm in pain! The bone in your shoulder hurts my stomach."
"Oh." He spit out the core and his eyes suddenly dimmed. "I used to carry my brothers home like this. They didn't know the pain."
"How could that happen? How could anyone not know pain?"
Rong Di looked a little lonely, and his eyes dimmed: "Because, they all died in the battle."
The surroundings suddenly became quiet. The sweet and sour taste on the taste buds was still filling the mouth, but there was a bitter taste in the throat.
Gu Qi felt a little sorry and patted Rong Di on the shoulder: "I'm sorry."
"It doesn't matter."
The Lan State was weak and literati were prevalent, and it was not strong enough to resist foreign enemies. Gu Qi had seen soldiers frequently coming and going to Han Mansion to deliver good news. There must have been countless fights and massacres at this intersection.
"You sit here and watch the sunrise every day?"
"Yeah." Rong Di looked ahead and said, "Every time I see the sun rise, I seem to see hope."
After a while, the distant horizon turned slightly white, breaking the darkness of the night. Then a touch of orange appeared, and the sun slowly rose.
This was Gu Qi's first time watching the sunrise from this angle. I couldn't help but admire in my heart: "It's so beautiful."
Facing the morning sun, the blackness behind him gradually faded away. Gu Qi looked at Rong Di and saw a little tear in his eyes. At that moment, I seemed to understand the so-called "seeing hope."
"Let's go, I will escort you back to the county today." Rong Di put the candied fruit back in its place, stood up and patted the dirt on his butt.
"good!"
Rong Di came closer again. As if he suddenly remembered something, he put one hand behind Gu Qi's back, the other hand wrapped around his legs, and hugged Gu Qi's entire body!
"Hey you!" Before he could finish his words, he had already put the person on the ground.
Back in the room, it was already dawn. After washing up, the servant knocked on the door.
"Mr. Pei, today the general said that he would escort Mr. Song Lian and Mr. Song back to the capital. He called me to send a message and asked you to pack your luggage as soon as possible. The carriage is waiting outside the mansion."
"Okay, come on." Gu Qi took off his cloak and changed into a light outer shirt.
The boy took the luggage and followed him to the door. Song Lian was already sitting in the car and glanced at Gu Qi.
Rong Di came out of the house and said to Gu Qi: "Sir's carriage is in front."
"Thank you, General."
Gu Qi walked towards the carriage in front, and as soon as he opened the curtain, he found a man sitting in the carriage, wearing a blue shirt and a white coat, his hair was tied up, and a silver hairpin was stuck in his crown.
Isn’t this the person I had tea with last night?
Gu Qi was startled and asked Rong Di next to him: "Who is this?"
"Prince Zhenguo——Yuan Zhe."
puff!
Gu Qicheng knelt on the ground with a clang: "I don't know that His Highness King Zhe is here, please forgive me for being rude!"
"It doesn't matter," Yuan Zhe said calmly, reaching out his hand and raising it slightly. "Get up. I want to return to the capital and regain my life, so I will go back with you. I hope Mr. Pei will not mind you."
"Your Highness was joking. It's a blessing to be able to walk with His Highness!" Gu Qi stood up tremblingly, dusted off his clothes, and carefully got into the car.
