Inside the city gate, the two silently watched Zhao Pei's back as she slowly boarded the carriage. The man in amber-colored clothes standing in front stood with his hands behind his back, his light brown eyes measuring and thinking, and suddenly a sly smile appeared on his lips.
"Li Xiao, isn't that woman interesting?" He asked the man behind him with a chuckle, but he had no intention of listening to his answer. With his eyes half-closed like a fox, he kept repeating a name in his mind, Xu Zhaopei... Xu Zhaopei... .
She is very valuable.
》》》》》》》
Zhao Pei and his party of four found an inn to rest in the midday heat. There were many people in the inn, and most of the topics they talked about were about the turmoil in the world. Zhao Pei listened to some of them and suddenly realized that this rebellion was inevitable.
Hanzhen stirred the soup in the bowl gloomily, sighing repeatedly. After a long while, she said, "Mom, do you think Uncle Six will be in danger when he leaves?"
Zhao Pei smiled and said, "Good luck will come to you, Zhen'er, don't worry too much."
Hanzhen sighed again and shook her head slowly, wanting to say something but stopping herself several times. Suddenly she said "Ah", quickly put down her chopsticks and asked hurriedly, "Is Dad going to the battlefield?"
Zhao Pei was stunned, and the dishes in her hands slipped and spun around on the table a few times before coming to a stop. She felt a little flustered, and her voice trembled a little: "Yeah... Will he go?"
The attendant who had been loading wood said, "Your Majesty has not received any orders yet." Zhao Pei breathed a sigh of relief and murmured, "That's good..."
Hanzhen chuckled and raised her eyebrows, half teasingly saying, "Mother seems to be very worried about you."
"He is your father." Zhao Pei glared at her and said this fact, then immediately regained her composure as if it had nothing to do with her.
Hanzhen pouted and was about to say something in return but heard someone walking to their table. Lang Lang said with a smile, "Madam, Miss, we meet again." She raised her eyes and opened her mouth wide, looking frightened.
The man who came was the man who had met outside Yangzhou earlier. He smiled politely, and his eyes, as sharp as an eagle, flashed with a strange light. Zhao Pei stood up and bowed: "It's a great honor to meet you, benefactor. It's a great honor to meet you."
He smiled as he looked at the four of them sitting at the table, and said, "Madam once said she would treat me to a meal, so now would you allow me to share a table?"
Zhao Pei smiled faintly: "Of course."
He sat down gracefully, raised his eyebrows and smiled: "Madam, you don't have to keep calling me 'benefactor' or 'benefactor'. It's really embarrassing. My last name is Wen, and my single character is Tai. If you don't mind, you can just call me by my name."
Zhao Pei called softly, "Master Wen." Wen Tai just smiled and followed her.
Hanzhen stared at his thoughtful face, frowned and asked, "Uncle Wen is not from the Central Plains, right?"
Wen Tai heard this and replied, "I am a Xiongnu. I have been doing business in Luozhou for many years. I came to Yangzhou a few days ago to receive a batch of goods, and I happened to meet you two."
Hanzhen muttered, "There's no need to explain it so clearly."
Wen Tai smiled, as if he hadn't heard. Zhao Pei patted her hand awkwardly and changed the subject: "Luozhou is very close to Wei State. I wonder what business Master Wen is in?"
"Silk, this thing is very profitable." Wen Tai laughed, and a few fine wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. His eyes fell on her unscrupulously, as if he was also looking at something very profitable, and that look made Zhao Pei extremely uncomfortable.
After a few more words, they hurriedly finished their meal and were about to leave. But strangely, Wen Tai did not ask about their identities again. Zhao Pei was also happy that she did not have to lie again.
Not until Zhao Pei and her group walked away did Li Xiao, who had been hiding on the side, show himself: "Master, why did you let them go like this?" His eyes were deep, four parts regret, four parts doubt, and two parts resentment.
Wen Tai smiled mysteriously and opened his clenched palm. Lying on his palm was the new sachet that was originally hanging on Zhao Pei's waist. It had come into his hand without anyone noticing.
"This is enough. Li Xiao, find a way..." The voice gradually became lower and thinner, like silver needles.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
After Xiao Lun arrived in Zhongli, he won victory after victory. The atmosphere in the military camp was very good, and everyone was filled with pride and confidence. After taking Shouyang, he went all the way to fight, but only then did he know that Xiao Zhengde was colluding with Hou Jing, and Hou Jing crossed the natural barrier of the Yangtze River without losing a single soldier.
At that time, Xiao Lun led his army directly and hurriedly crossed the river from Guangling to Jingkou, occupied Zhongshan, and temporarily set up camp there.
In the commander's tent, Xiao Lun had just taken off his heavy armor to loosen up his muscles. He frowned and stared at the sand table and asked the deputy general beside him: "How many infantry and cavalry do we have?"
"We have 30,000 infantry and cavalry under our command, Grand Commander. That's enough to intimidate that bastard Hou Jing." The deputy general laughed confidently.
Xiao Lun also smiled when he heard this, nodding his head repeatedly: "Even if he has Xiao Zhengde, what can he do? We will kill them together when the time comes. Pass the order down, we will start marching at 3:30 noon." As soon as he finished speaking, the door curtain was slightly lifted, and a soldier half showed his head and reported: "Grand Commander, the enemy has sent an envoy."
Xiao Lun and the deputy general looked at each other, raised his hand and said, "Please let him in." But he was wondering in his heart what tricks Hou Jing would play.
A man with a white felt hat and a long beard walked into the tent with his head lowered, bowed and said, "Greetings, King Shaoling. I'm here to show something to His Majesty on the orders of my master." He looked up, his blue eyes flashing with a strange light.
"You are not Hou Jing's subordinate." Xiao Lun frowned.
He did not answer, but respectfully handed over the things in his hand. There were two things in total, a jade pendant and a sachet.
Xiao Lun took it with full of doubts. When he saw the object in his hand clearly, he was struck by lightning and his mind was in chaos. The sachet was specially selected for Zhao Pei when he traveled to Yangzhou with her a few days ago. A red lotus bloomed enchantingly. He remembered that Zhao Pei had embroidered her name on the corner of the sachet after she came back. He looked through it and saw the crooked "Pei". Xiao Lun looked at the jade pendant with difficulty. The warm jade was smoking. It was the jade she had always carried with her.
He suddenly went limp, and he raised his head and shouted angrily, "What did you do to her?"
The messenger was very satisfied with Xiao Lun's reaction and said with a smile: "This lady is now treated like a distinguished guest in the master's house. There is also a young girl with her. I wonder if King Shaoling knows them?"
Xiao Lun clenched his fists, as if he wanted to crush the sachet. His eyes were as sharp as a blade, piercing straight through the messenger's chest: "What do you want?"
The messenger tried hard to meet Xiao Lun's horrified gaze, which seemed to want to tear him into pieces: "The Lord said that the two are safe in the palace now, but there is no guarantee for the future. The Lord said that the prince must understand..."
Xiao Lun's eyes widened with anger, and the veins on his forehead emerged. He tried to control his excitement but fell into a painful dilemma. On one side was the war that was sure to win, and his country. On the other side was Zhao Pei... .
Although the deputy general didn't know the whole story, he immediately panicked when he saw Xiao Lun remained silent: "General, think twice. Don't fall for this traitor's scheme."
The messenger narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Prince Shaoling, please think twice."
Xiao Lun raised his eyes and looked at him fiercely: "I want both, how about it?"
Seeing his confident and arrogant look, the messenger was slightly annoyed and said sarcastically: "Prince Shaoling, please think carefully. I don't think you would like to see two cold bodies..."
Before he could finish his words, Xiao Lun suddenly shouted, "Come here! Take him down and behead him!" The envoy was startled, and saw that the deputy general had come over and asked someone to hold him up. He panicked and shouted, "Your Majesty! Don't behead the envoy! Don't behead the envoy!"
Xiao Lun sneered: "There are no rules here, I am the rule." There was a scream outside the tent, and Xiao Lun tightly grasped the sachet and jade pendant in his hands, tightly and tightly. (To be continued)