In the early morning, without even having breakfast, a dozen or so riders started from Horseshoe Lake and followed the long snow road.
"Master, which way are you going?" Zhou Zun came hurriedly.
"Towards the path."
On the official road, there may be troops coming and going. But the paths in the woods are much safer.
After rubbing his stiff face, Xu Mu raised his head and identified the route for a while before continuing to lead the men into the forest.
After a while, there were only hollow crescent marks left, covering the entire snow path.
…
"Boss, this has reached the edge of the inner city."
Xu Mu nodded, not surprised. A war is about to break out in the inner city, and a hidden camp is very important to people like Yuan Tao.
"Dong, boss, how many people are there here?"
"About tens of thousands."
Xu Mu raised his head and looked at the hidden camp in front of him. Since it was winter, there were not many military tents, but many simple wooden houses were built.
Three or four teams of soldiers wearing robes and armor, wrapped in a cloak, all carried iron bows on their backs, carried knives at their waists, and held an iron halberd with a hardwood handle tightly in their right hand.
Further forward, under the vast snowy scenery, there are three or four generals wearing bright iron armor, each with a square formation, practicing the method of killing the enemy in the snow.
Directly north of the camp, there is a huge, arched cowhide drum, silent in the snow. As long as someone catches the drumstick, it will shake the world.
"Zhou Zun, let the brothers lead the horses and walk." Xu Mu turned around in a deep voice.
More than a dozen figures dismounted one after another to lead him, followed Xu Mu carefully, and moved forward slowly.
After only a hundred steps, a young captain came over with half a team of men. Before asking, he raised his hands and made them into fists.
"Little boss, the master has been waiting for you for a long time. Please follow me to the account."
"Do you recognize me?" Xu Mu was stunned.
"Recognize, I'm from Hutang." The young captain smiled, "It's normal for my little boss not to know. Before this, people from Hutang will not show their faces."
Hutang is probably the force secretly cultivated by Yuan Tao. Thinking about it, if there is no means, how can the young Marquis sit firmly in the Marquis's mansion in the turbulent inner city.
"Please come with me."
Xu Mu nodded, stepped forward, and followed the little captain into the camp ahead.
After walking about half a mile, when we stopped, we arrived in front of a sturdy wooden house. Outside the wooden house, a group of soldiers asked for their identities before opening the curtain in front of the door.
"Zhou Zun, wait for me outside. Si Hu, don't run around."
After straightening his robe, Xu Mu took a deep breath and walked inside. Behind them, there happened to be a sound of soldiers' drill shouts, as if they were going to shatter the sky.
There are at least three stoves in the house, which make the whole house warm and comfortable.
Xu Mu raised his head, and when he was still a little far away, he saw Yuan Tao, his body hunched over, with his winter robe hanging down to his lower abdomen.
An old doctor with a serious face was holding a wooden dagger and scratching Yuan Tao's back one by one.
"My brother, come closer." Yuan Tao raised his face, his sunken eye sockets made it difficult to even open his eyes.
The voice was old and hoarse.
"Xu Mu... pay homage to the Marquis."
"Get closer, I can't see you clearly."
Xu Mu felt a pain in his chest and walked many steps forward until he reached Yuan Tao. He suddenly regretted that there was no article related to poison treatment and traditional Chinese medicine in the seventeenth post forum.
"Divine Doctor Li said that the poisonous gas has harmed my lungs and penetrated my back, so I can only scrape away some of the dampness and poison first. Otherwise, my whole body will rot."
After saying that, Yuan Tao lowered his head and coughed twice.
"Your ancestor-in-law happened to lead his troops outside and will be back later."
"Sit down, don't get tired of standing."
Yuan Tao turned his head and said, "Doctor Li, please shave it off later. My brother and I will have a few words first. You and I can't die now."
Li Wang'er bowed in silence, helped Yuan Tao put on his clothes, and then walked out with a sigh. Several generals who were originally in the military tent also walked out silently.
"My brother, don't worry. I'll be fine in two or three days." Yuan Tao struggled to put on a smile.
Xu Mu sighed in his heart. He heard from Gu Ying that Yuan Tao was going to take that life-threatening miracle medicine. After two days, people will die.
Without persuading him, the last noble prince of the Great Ji Dynasty had already chosen his own path.
"I asked you to come here because I want to discuss with you -" Before he could finish his sentence, Yuan Tao coughed again.
"Master Hou, what should I do?"
"The palace meeting before the New Year's Eve is just a few days away." Yuan Tao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, "You will enter the court and find a way to find a father-in-law named Lianchun in the east bunk of the Jingshi Room."
"He will tell you the specific matters."
Listening, Xu Mu was startled in his heart. He had no idea what Yuan Tao meant. This time he entered the palace to find a father-in-law.
"Lianchun served three generations of emperors of the Yuan family. He is an old man and has witnessed the decline of the dynasty. I talked with him for a long time before we settled on it."
"Master Marquis, if he informs us, it will be in great danger."
Yuan Tao was silent for a moment, "Lianchun personally handed over the treasure in the cleaning room to me, which is considered a death wish."
The eunuchs' treasures, Xu Mu knew what they were without even thinking. The ancients attached great importance to the neatness of the body, especially the eunuchs. Even after death, they wanted to be intact and be decent people in the next life.
"Lianchun is just a guide, taking you to meet another person. After that, you have to rely on yourself for the rest."
"In addition, after entering the court, Xiao Yuanlu's people will investigate you. This is something that cannot be avoided. But it is not impossible to solve."
"This is three hundred thousand taels. Many people in the inner city secretly gave it to me. I won't tell you their names."
"Outside, there is a deposed veteran named Yang Fu. He has been working against Xiao Yuanlu in the inner city. Xiao Yuanlu once offered a heavy reward, but he has been unable to capture him."
"Master Hou, I have never heard of these people before."
"It's normal. The area covered by darkness is too big, and my brother couldn't see far enough before."
Yuan Tao's voice was a little astringent.
"Veteran General Yang Fu will give you something. So that you can enter the palace safely and find a way to cooperate inside and outside."
"Master Hou, what are you sending..." Xu Mu's voice trembled, and he vaguely guessed it.
"He told me that at the age of sixty-three, he would no longer be able to lift the knife in a few years. Why not give up his life and pave a way for the people of the world."
"He is on the east side of the camp. You can go out and talk to him later."
Xu Mu's eyes were slightly red and he was silent for a moment.
"My brother, one day when you see Sheng Shi, please go to my tomb and have a good talk with me. My more than thirty years of absurdity have all passed away in fighting and fighting."
"This prosperous age will one day be as the Marquis wishes."
Yuan Tao closed his eyes and slowly smiled. There was a rare radiance on his extremely pale face.
