Song Rui looked at the official road and felt very anxious.
When he came, Commander Song solemnly told him that he must deliver the food to His Royal Highness.
The journey was going smoothly, but as we were approaching Yuncheng, we encountered the army of King Pingnan.
Guard Lin looked at him with a troubled expression on his face and was silent for a long time. Finally he gritted his teeth and said, "Song Wei, there is actually another way to Yuncheng."
Song Rui asked hurriedly: "Where?"
"There is a large cypress forest in the mountains behind this village. There is a shortcut from there to Yuncheng, but that road is a little weird.
The nearby villagers are very secretive about that place and never dare to step foot inside.
I heard that in the past three years, there were five or six people in the Jianghu who did not believe in evil and insisted on going in despite the villagers' dissuasion. In the end, no one came out. "
Lin Rui said in surprise: "Is this happening?"
Lin Biaotou nodded, thought for a moment, and then whispered: "That forest is connected to a mountain. In the past, villagers could often go in and out without any problem.
But I don’t know since when, no one dared to go in.
After those Jianghu people disappeared, the newly transferred county magistrate came to visit them personally.
He didn't believe the villagers' claims that it was haunted. It should be that someone was playing tricks on the place to cover up their illegal activities.
The county magistrate ordered people to cut down the cypress trees to see what was hidden inside.
But his decision was dissuaded by the master of Guolan County, saying that this place was too evil and they didn't have many people, so they would bring more government servants to kill him tomorrow.
The new county magistrate did not insist and planned to bring people over to cut down the trees the next day.
But on their way back, the magistrate fell off his horse and disappeared that night. Since then no one has dared to come here. "
After listening to his narration, Song Rui knew that there must be something unknown in the woods.
If it were normal, he would definitely take someone in to see what kind of magic is hidden inside?
But now he had an important mission, so he decided to bypass this place first.
After delivering the food and grass to His Highness the Crown Prince, we will come back to find out.
He said to the head guard Lin: "Brother Lin, now there is only a further path.
See if you can go to the village and ask some strong men to help us lead the way.
When we get to Yuncheng, I will give each person twenty taels of silver as reward, and another twenty kilograms of grain when they come back. "
Head Guard Lin had some friendship with Song Rui and knew that this matter was urgent. He immediately nodded and said:
"I know the head of this village. I'm going to ask him now to see if anyone is willing to go?"
"Then please take a trip, Brother Lin." Song Rui thanked him with his hands.
About two-quarters of an hour later, Lin Biaotou came over with a dozen men. Those men were holding sickles, machetes, and some were holding hoes.
Head Guard Lin knew that the Song family was not short of money, and that the path was really difficult to walk.
He asked Li Zheng to call some more people to clear the way in front.
Song Rui said nothing and asked Song Laosan to give five taels of silver to each of the villagers who came first, and then pay them the rest after arriving in Yuncheng.
The villagers beamed with joy after receiving the money.
Collecting the money carefully, he took the guy and took them to the rugged trail to Yuncheng.
Although the road was difficult to walk, these villagers who knew the terrain well were leading the way, and they arrived in Yuncheng the next afternoon.
Lin Rui and the others walked through the south city gate, so they did not see Li Yunhang and the Northwest Army led by him.
Li Yunze and Li Chaoyang were leading the cavalry troops for training, and a small soldier rode over to report.
"Your Highness, the Song family in Fengcheng has come to deliver food and grass. Madam, please come over."
"okay, I get it."
Li Yunze jumped on the horse, "Chaoyang, do you want to come with us?"
"Brother, you go ahead. I will take them to run a few more laps. There will be no training tonight. Let everyone rest early."
They had received the letter yesterday, and King Pingnan's army should arrive in Yuncheng tomorrow.
"Okay, you can go directly to my courtyard later." Li Yunze warned, then rode to the city gate.
Ye Mingxuan was drinking tea with Song Rui and Lin Biaotou in the main room, while Lin Zhong and Ye Mingzhe were taking people to count the food and grass.
Song Rui came over this time and brought two large carts of things to Ye Yutong.
Song Jingyan and Mrs. Song prepared it for her, including clothes, jewelry, and a cart full of Fengcheng's specialties.
Ye Yutong saw that most of the more than one hundred carts were brown rice, and there were also a few carts of medicinal materials.
Knowing that this must have been harvested by Song Shan in various places, those high-yield rice must have been reluctant to eat and kept as seeds.
"The food from the Song family came in time." Li Yunze stood behind her and smiled.
Ye Yutong turned around and said, "Are you back? Song Rui is in the house and said that Chief Song has brought you a letter. Come in and have a look. I'll prepare some food for them."
Li Yunze nodded with a smile, "Yi Chen wrote to me last time, saying that Song Rui likes to eat chili peppers and will prepare some more spicy dishes for him to try later."
Ye Yutong responded: "Okay, I will cook myself tonight."
Although the two people's voices were not loud, Song Rui in the main room heard them.
He was a little flattered, but he didn't expect His Highness to know that he likes to eat chili peppers, and he would take this matter to heart.
Moreover, the princess had to cook for him herself.
He immediately walked out of the main room and saluted Li Yunze and Ye Yutong.
Li Yunze smiled and helped him up, "Wei Wei Song has had a hard journey. Come and sit in the room."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
After Song Rui waited for Li Yunze to sit down, he took out two letters from his sleeves and handed them to him respectfully.
"Your Highness, this is a letter written by our master and young master to you.
Our master also asked me to tell you that if you need anything from him, write to him directly.
Please don't be polite. As long as it can be done, the Song family will definitely go all out. "
Li Mingze nodded with a smile, "Yi Chen is my good brother, and I regard Mr. Song Shan as an elder. They are all members of my family, and I am not prepared to be polite to them."
He opened the two letters and read them ten lines at a time.
Most of Song Yichen's letters were filled with concern and told them to pay attention to their safety.
Chief Song Shan analyzed with him the current situation in Yun Chao Kingdom, as well as the recent news from officials in various places.
This information is very important to him.
Although his uncle has been asking about this, after all, he doesn't know as much as Song Shanchang, who has great talents all over the world.
Li Yunze sighed in his heart, it was indeed a century-old family.
This kind of vision and foundation are truly beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Li Yunze put the letter away and asked Song Rui with concern, "Song Weiwei, is the journey going smoothly?"
"The journey back to His Highness the Crown Prince was relatively safe. However, when we arrived at Guolan County, we almost met Prince Ping Nan's team. Head Guard Lin and I took a small road to avoid being spotted by them."
Lin Rui thought for a while and then told him about the strange cypress forest.
"Your Highness, I think there must be something wrong inside. Those weird things that are pretending to be magical are probably done deliberately by someone to cover up the secrets inside."
After hearing this, Li Yunze also became interested in that place.
"King Pingnan's team should arrive tomorrow. Once they are dealt with, I will go and have a look with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier hurried over to report.
"Your Highness, we are coming. A large army is coming."
Li Yunze stood up immediately, "What did you say? Where is the army coming from?"
The soldier who came to report took a breath and said, "The spies just came to report that there are many troops coming on the official road twenty miles away from Yuncheng, with a visual estimate of about 100,000, and the enemy is coming fiercely. Prince Liang has already led people to stop them. "
