After setting off from Anqing, Wei Jing and his two men first took the water route to Wuchang, stayed for a day and then changed to the land route, passing through Suizhou, and finally arrived in Xiangyang eight days later. The atmosphere between the two of them was subtle along the way, and they talked with each other like guests. It was actually better than when they returned to Sima's house from Nanjing. When they are together, they are more reserved and polite to each other.
Xiangyang has been a battleground for military strategists for thousands of years since the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Deng Kingdom was sealed here. The local residents have experienced many wars. Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army, Yue Fei regained the six counties of Xiangyang, and the Battle of Xiangfan in the Southern Song and Yuan Dynasties were all famous battles here. , although Xiangyang was devastated by war, many monuments and anecdotes of famous people were left behind.
After arriving in Xiangyang, the two of them first found an inn to stay. Since Wei Jing always made preparations in advance, there was still nearly a month until Zangyuting could take action. Wei Jing planned to find the Sima family here first. Contact people to understand the local situation, and then go to Qihuang Villa.
Since they had just arrived in Xiangyang, they were both very tired. After dinner, they went back to their rooms to rest, planning to come back tomorrow to discuss their future plans. It was mid-night, just when Wei Jing was about to fall asleep, he suddenly heard a faint sound of footsteps approaching on the roof. Wei Jing immediately held his breath and concentrated, waiting for the other party to make any movement.
The visitor did not stop above Wei Jing's room, but slowly approached the next room. Wei Jing was shocked. Could he be looking for Miss Qin?
Thinking of Yuqin's safety, Wei Jing reacted immediately, picked up his sword and ran towards Yuqin's room. As he approached, he heard the sound of swords clashing. When he opened the door, he saw a masked man in black in front of the window. , holding a dagger, with a graceful and slender figure, she looks like a woman, and she is engaging Yuqin at hand-to-hand combat!
When the man saw Wei Jing arriving, he just said "tsk", grabbed the hairpin that Yuqin left on the table, then threw two darts at Wei Jing, flipped them out of the window and jumped up to the roof, waiting for Wei Jing to do the same. Climbing up to the roof, I saw that the man was very good at lightness skills, and he was already out of pursuit.
Wei Jing could only say loudly: "Why did the girl attack and seize things at night?"
But I heard a clear and soft voice coming from the distance, saying: "This girl has nothing to say to the Sima family."
The last number was almost inaudible and seemed to have gone far away, leaving only a faint fragrance.
Wei Jing was just stunned when he heard this. He didn't know where the Sima family had offended each other, so he had to go back to the room first. After seeing that Yu Qin was safe and sound, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Is Miss Qin okay?"
Yuqin said: "I just gave him a hairpin, it's no big deal. Where is the young master?"
Wei Jing pondered for a while, and then said: "It's okay. Why is this person here? Does Miss Qin have any clue?"
After saying that, he picked up two darts, which were semicircular and shaped like a crescent moon.
Yuqin shook his head and said: "I don't know. I happened to be awake just now, and then I noticed someone. But the other person seemed quite surprised to see that I knew martial arts?"
Wei Jing thought to himself: "If it were me, I would probably be surprised, right?"
At this time, the waiter came over with a lantern, and a few busybodies who had not yet gone to bed also came to join in the fun. One of them asked: "Hey, why is there so much ping-pong-pong-pong in the middle of the night?"
Wei Jing said: "Just now, a masked man in black broke into this girl's door at night. I saw that he looked like a woman."
The waiter said: "The woman in black?"
Then he saw the dart in Wei Jing's hand and said in surprise: "This is the crescent moon dart, could it be her?"
Wei Jing praised: "My second brother has really good eyesight! Can you recognize who he is?"
The waiter in the shop smiled and said, "My guest is joking. It's not because I have good eyesight. "The shadow of the crescent moon in Xiangcheng and the fragrance of sweet-scented osmanthus at midnight" is known to the locals here, and it refers to a female cat burglar with excellent light skills."
One of the guests also said: "Exactly, this is a rumor in Xiangyang in the past ten years. I heard that she specializes in stealing the property of corrupt officials and rich people, and never attacks civilians. Therefore, the evaluation of her is mostly positive."
Another guest asked again: "The rich have been robbed, but it is unknown whether they have helped the poor?"
Wei Jing said: "Just now I vaguely smelled a fragrance, but now that I think about it, it is indeed Osmanthus fragrans."
Then he added: "But neither I nor Miss Yuqin are officials, so do you think you are far from being rich?"
After everyone talked about it for a while, they still couldn't come to a conclusion. Soon they went to sleep, leaving only Wei Jing in Yuqin's room. At this time, Yuqin suddenly said: "Sir, during dinner tonight, I will I noticed that there is a guest who is wearing rich clothes and is dressed as a wealthy businessman. He must be staying at this hotel today."
Wei Jing thought for a moment and said, "Miss Qin means that the other party is here with a target?"
Yuqin nodded and said: "If it's just for money, there is a more suitable partner here, and there is another point that is concerning. Even the waiter can recognize the crescent moon dart used by the woman. Maybe she did not hide her identity on purpose. "
Wei Jing also agreed: "That's true, but I don't know if she revealed her identity to let us know, or if this is her usual style."
The two of them had no idea what to do, so they had to go back to their rooms to rest.
The next morning when the two of them came out of the room, they found that each other had tired faces, as if they hadn't slept all night. Only then did they realize that the other had been guarding each other all night to prevent someone from attacking. The two of them understood at the same time that they could only Looking at each other and smiling bitterly.
After breakfast, Wei Jing asked, "Miss Qin, do you want to take a rest?"
Yuqin shook his head and said: "I'm fine. When we were at Qingyan Tower, it was common to stay up all night with guests to have fun. Besides, didn't the young master sleep too?"
Wei Jing smiled and said: "Okay, let's go find the contact person of the Sima family first. Maybe he knows something about the female thief."
The two then found a stall in the busy city. The owner Dong Peide was the contact person of the Sima family in Xiangyang. He and Wei Jing had already known each other before, so after Wei Jing briefly introduced Yu Qin, he told them about Xiangyang. current situation.
Dong Peide said: "As the second master said, many people from the world have come to Xiangyang City during this period. Although there is a lot of excitement in Qihuang Villa recently, there are still too many people. With such a battle, there are indeed some mountains and rivers." The rain is coming.”
Wei Jing asked: "Brother Dong, does he know which sects these figures are from?"
Dong Peide thought for a while and immediately named nine different forces, and Wuyou Valley was among them. Wei Jing couldn't help but think, why is it Wuyou Valley again? Then he said: "Wuyou Valley was overthrown by Hidden Fish Court not long ago. According to our guess, most of the people who are still active in the valley have become Tianji Pavilion's helpers."
Dong Peide said: "So, if they appear here, they may be here to do business for Tianji Pavilion?"
Wei Jing said: "It's possible, but it's still too early to say what it is about. By the way, Brother Dong just said that there is a lot of excitement in Qihuang Villa, what is that?"
Dong Peide smiled and said: "I wonder if the second master has heard that the daughter of the owner of Qihuang Villa, Feng Xinyao, is a famous beauty in the martial arts in this area. It is said that in ten days, three different people will go to Qihuang Villa to propose marriage at the same time. !”
When Wei Jing heard this, he couldn't help but blurt out: "You are worthy of being at the top of the list of female heroes, you really have some skills!"
Dong Peide asked: "What is the list of the second master?"
Yu Qin also looked at Wei Jing with a puzzled look on her face, and Wei Jing said hurriedly: "It's okay, I'm just talking to myself, but three parties proposed marriage at the same time, so who should Miss Feng marry?"
Dong Peide said with a smile: "That's why there is so much excitement! It is said that the owner of Qihuang Manor also intends to test the three of them to see who is the fastest son-in-law riding a dragon."
Wei Jing thought this was very interesting, so he smiled at Yu Qin and said, "Should we take a look at this excitement?"
Yuqin also smiled and said: "It would be a pity not to look at it!"
At this time, Wei Jing remembered something again and asked, "By the way, Brother Dong, have you ever heard of 'The shadow of the crescent moon in Xiangcheng, the fragrance of osmanthus flowers at midnight'?"
Dong Peide said: "This is a rumor in Xiangyang in recent years. The second master is also interested in this person?"
Wei Jing said: "To be honest, we may have met this person last night."
Then he explained yesterday's attack and the theft of Yuqin's hairpin.
Dong Peide pondered for a long time and said: "If it is this person, I may know something about her whereabouts."
Wei Jing said happily: "That's great, I just have something to settle with her!"
Yu Qin asked curiously: "Young master, have you ever had a problem with her?"
Wei Jing said: "Didn't she take Miss Qin's hairpin? We can't just let it go."
Yuqin said: "It doesn't matter. It's not a valuable thing. Why should I ask you to make another trip?"
Wei Jing shook his head and said: "The hairpin has been with you since Qingyan Tower. It would be a pity to lose it like this. Moreover, what she said in the end seemed to be dissatisfied with the Sima family. I am also somewhat concerned about this. If she is really a righteous thief , and why do you have enmity with us?"
Seeing that it was rare for him to persist, Yuqin stopped trying to persuade him, and at the same time was a little moved.
Dong Peide said: "According to my informant's report, I have seen a woman dressed up for night walks around Chengyun Village, and more than once. To ordinary people, there may be no connection between the two, but Chengyun Village seems to be robbing homes. The strongmen bandited the strongholds, but in fact they never took action against ordinary people, and they often distributed food to homeless people in places where refugees gathered in the Jingxiang Mountains."
At that time, there were many farmers who were forced to flee to the mountains to make a living due to factors such as land annexation or taxation and labor. There were many of them and they were scattered everywhere. They were scattered in the Jingxiang area to reclaim wasteland. Because they felled trees and built huts, they were also called shantymen. They are prone to problems with public security and banditry, and have always been regarded as a serious problem by the government.
Wei Jing said: "So, this Chengyun Village is also an organization of righteous thieves who behaves decently?"
