"Xu Ran!!?"
The sound coming from the courtyard gate was obviously sustained by spiritual power. The sound was loud and loud, passing through the three courtyard gates and reaching everyone's ears.
The moment she heard the name, Song Qingqing's expression changed obviously.
She didn't care to be jealous of Rui Xiaozhu anymore. She turned her sword and almost walked towards the courtyard gate. She looked menacing, as if she wanted to fight her opponent desperately.
When Chu Qingxiao heard this name, he just felt it was familiar and hadn't reacted yet.
But seeing Song Qingqing's reaction, he immediately remembered that Song Qingqing had mentioned this person to him when they first met.
Xu Ran is the son of Xu Zhiru, the previous lord of Jianyue City.
When Jianyue City was framed by the imperial court, King Wu sent the Lord of Biyun City to besiege Jianyue City. Everyone in Jianyue City wanted to resist to the death, but Xu Ran secretly opened the city to surrender, which caused Jianyue City to collapse without attack.
Xu Ran then confessed to the imperial court's false accusation against Song Guicheng and others, and even went to Tailin City in person to detail the evidence of Song Guicheng and others' rebellion in front of all civil and military officials.
Relying on these, Xu Ran was appreciated by the court and was re-titled the Lord of Jianyue City.
Song Qingqing and others were dissatisfied with Xu Ran's miserable existence and escaped from Jianyue City.
Twelve years later, the survivors of Jianyu City from the Song, Qing and Qing Dynasties had hidden their identities deeply in southern Xinjiang, with almost no flaws revealed. The only thing that might attract the attention of the imperial court and interested people was the matter of Jianyu City.
But I'm afraid only Xiang An knows that Chu Qingxiao did it.
Thinking about it this way, Xu Ran suddenly came to visit, and it was probably Xiang An who was behind the scenes.
Chu Qingxiao's heart sank when he thought of this.
Not only because Xu Ran’s visitor at this moment is unkind, but also because...
When they met today, although the conversation between him and Xiang An was not pleasant, at least they were still thinking about their old friendship.
Jianyue City is thousands of miles away from Tianxuan Mountain. Even if the negotiation between Chu Qingxiao and Xiang An breaks down today and Xiang An wants to find another way to contain Chu Qingxiao, Xu Ran, who is thousands of miles away, cannot arrive so quickly.
Obviously, he had already found a backup plan before talking to Chu Qingxiao.
Thinking of this, Chu Qingxiao couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
Probably like Rui Xiaozhu said, a lot of things can change in twelve years, and many people can no longer look at things the same way they did twelve years ago.
Although Chu Qingxiao understands this truth.
But the intrigues with his close friends from many years ago already made Chu Qingxiao feel depressed.
But he quickly suppressed the discomfort.
He quickly stepped forward and grabbed Song Qingqing: "Qingqing, you can't show your face!"
"Why? Do you know how many people of my tribe that bastard killed? We have been planning how to infiltrate these years.
Enter Jianyue City and kill him. Today he comes to the door by himself. I will cut him into pieces with a thousand knives! "Song Qingqing obviously lost her mind. She roared angrily, trying to break away from Chu Qingxiao's hand.
Chu Qingxiao didn't dare to let her act recklessly, so he quickly reached out and grabbed her shoulders, looked at her and said, "Qingqing, calm down!"
"We don't know Xu Ran's strength or how many people he has with him. We don't even know if we can beat him."
"Even if we can really kill him, this is Tianxuan City and there are many eyes and ears. Once someone knows about it, we will not be able to escape misfortune."
"Then who will wash away the injustice your father suffered back then? Where should the surviving Jianjia survivors go?"
Chu Qingxiao's series of questions made Song Qingqing's body tremble, the anger on his face reduced a lot, and his whole person calmed down.
She lowered her head and was silent for a while, then looked up at Chu Qingxiao: "I'll go with you, don't worry, I won't mess around."
"But..." Chu Qingxiao hesitated and was about to say something.
"Don't worry, I was seven or eight years old when I left Wuling City. Now more than ten years have passed and he doesn't recognize me." Song Qingqing said.
Seeing her resolute attitude, Chu Qingxiao thought for a while, but finally did not stop her anymore. He just warned: "Everything must be considered in the long run and don't be impulsive."
…
Xu Ran's sudden visit made a lot of noise, and everyone who had been resting in the house woke up one after another.
It was obvious that the other party had bad intentions, so everyone gathered around him.
But Chu Qingxiao thought about it and felt that such a move would be self-inflicted, so he simply asked everyone to wait in the courtyard to watch what happened. He took Song Qingqing and Rui Xiaozhu to answer the door.
Soon the three of them opened the courtyard door.
Then he saw seven or eight figures standing outside the door, most of them carrying long swords and looking majestic.
The leader was a seven-foot-tall man who looked to be in his fifties, with white temples and some traces of age on his face, but his temperament was calm and he showed no sign of fatigue.
Chu Qingxiao glanced at the leader, feeling a little strange, then turned to look at Song Qingqing, and saw the girl nodding towards him imperceptibly.
Only then did he confirm that this man was Xu Ran, the current lord of Jianyue City.
But deep down he felt strange.
In the past, I heard Song Qingqing say when talking about this matter that Xu Ran should be in his early forties, and he was a martial arts practitioner with a strong body, so he should be in his prime.
But the man in front of him at this moment was aging prematurely. Although he was full of momentum, he didn't look like a man in his forties.
Xu Ran was the only one among the group who did not wear weapons.
After Chu Qingxiao appeared, his eyes were always on Chu Qingxiao.
Looking up and down, scrutinizing for a while.
After a while, he turned his eyes away and looked at the two people beside Chu Qingxiao.
When his eyes came to Song Qingqing, he visibly froze, but he quickly calmed down his abnormality, turned to look at Chu Qingxiao again, and said with a smile.
"Your Excellency must be Mr. Chu Qingxiao, right?"
"I hope Mr. Chu will forgive me for visiting so late at night."
Of course, Chu Qingxiao would not be deceived by the other party's polite opening remarks and let down his guard. He returned the courtesy with both hands and said immediately.
"As the lord of Jianyue City, City Master Xu is thousands of miles away. He has taken the trouble to come to Tianxuan City in southern Xinjiang to pay me a visit. This really makes me confused."
"I don't seem to have any old acquaintance with the city lord. I would like to ask the city lord to clarify the intention of his visit."
When Xu Ran heard this, he did not answer the question. Instead, he looked behind Chu Qingxiao and said, "Mr. Chu also knows that we have come a long way and are full of travels. I wonder if you can invite us to sit down in the mansion and discuss our purpose of coming in detail?"
Xu Dangren still lives in the courtyard. Xu Ran may not recognize Song Qingqing, who has grown up many years later, but it is impossible not to recognize Xu Dangren. If he sees this, he will be charged with destroying Jiannu City. It can't be washed off.
Chu Qingxiao would naturally not agree.
He said: "The night is already dark, and the family members at home have already gone to bed. If City Lord Xu has anything to do, just tell him here."
"Besides, City Lord Xu and I are strangers, and I don't know what the City Lord's character is like. I don't dare to take risks with the family members, for fear of attracting wolves into the house."
Chu Qingxiao's words were extremely rude, almost pointing at Xu Ran's face and calling him a thief.
Hearing this, a girl in red behind Xu Ran suddenly looked angry, raised her sword and stepped forward: "Asshole, my father is the lord of Jianyue City, how dare you humiliate me like this! I will chop off your head right now!"
The girl was obviously new to the world. As she said this, she stepped forward angrily.
Behind Chu Qingxiao, Song Qingqing and Rui Xiaozhu both had their eyes fixed on each other, locking the girl with their energy. As long as the other party dared to harm Chu Qingxiao, the two of them would repel the girl immediately.
"Xu Yixiu! Don't mess around!" But before the two of them could take action, Xu Ran shouted and stopped the girl.
Xu Yixiu had a look of reluctance on her face, but she didn't dare to disobey her father, so she could only retreat with an angry look on her face.
Xu Ran then raised his head and looked at Chu Qingxiao. He was still smiling and was not at all displeased by Chu Qingxiao's secret curse just now.
He cupped his hands and said, "Since Mr. Chu finds it inconvenient, Xu Ran won't force it."
"To be honest, I took the liberty of visiting you today just to retrieve something from Mr. Chu."
"What?" Chu Qingxiao asked with a frown.
"Twelve years ago, what Song Guicheng gave to Mr. Chu should have belonged to Jianyue City..."
"Dragon Xiang Seal!"
