A graceful lady, a gentleman is fond of quarrels.
The Han soldiers at the checkpoint may not be gentlemen, but for these guards who sometimes haven't seen a woman for half a year, when several gorgeous women suddenly appear in front of them, it is difficult to resist the temptation no matter what.
After three years in the army, all the sows have become beauties.
What's more, the woman who appears in front of them is secretly selected from Hanzhong. Even if she hangs out among flowers all day long, she may not be tempted by her.
"General Cao, this time I have obeyed the emperor's order to send several beauties to Xianyang." Ji Jincai said: "There are also two beauties specially given to Prince Qu as concubines. They are from my university. The original intention of the Chu nobles is to make the two countries have in-laws. I am from the Ministry of Rites, so some etiquette is unavoidable. If they are handed over to General Cao and sent to Xianyang, this...!" He did not continue.
Qu Manbao's lustful reputation is not known to everyone in the world, but it is known to everyone in the northwest.
For the sake of beauty, she bleeds a lot under Qu Manbao's hands.
Cao Ying couldn't figure out for a while whether what Ji Jincai said was true or false, and he was still somewhat wary.
"Colonel, former Fanchai Jun secretly left seclusion here. We didn't dare to ask more questions at the time. Now it seems that he did go to Chu State." General Cao Ying was hesitant, and a person next to him came closer and whispered: "This man It is not necessarily false to say that Military Advisor Chai formed an alliance with the Chu State in the past, and you see that they only have a few dozen people in total, and they have brought a lot of gifts, so they should really be going to return the gifts to the third prince."
Cao Ying said in a low voice: "At this critical moment, you must be careful. If these people have evil intentions, when the time comes to investigate and investigate, we will be dead."
"What tricks can they make?" The man next to him said close to Cao Ying's ear: "Captain, this old guy said that a beauty was given to the eldest son. This is not an ordinary thing. Think about it, if it really happened today If you offend this group of people, then those two beauties will gain the favor of the eldest young master, and they will be like us in the eldest young master’s ears, but we can’t live without it.”
When Cao Ying thought of Qu Manbao's moody temperament, she felt a little frightened and asked in a low voice: "Then what do you think we should do?"
"Let them enter the customs." The man whispered: "But we have collected all their weapons. Since it is a mission and not a war, there is no need for them to take their weapons on the road."
Cao Ying nodded and said: "What you said is absolutely true." Then he shouted to the people below: "Since you are going to return the gift to the Third Prince, we can let you pass, but you must hand over your weapons and you are not allowed to take weapons on the road. "
Ji Jincai said: "General Cao, we carry weapons with us to prevent accidents. If we hand over our weapons, if we encounter a critical situation, wouldn't we not even be able to protect ourselves?"
"The journey from here to Xianyang was uneventful. Is there any unexpected situation?" Cao Ying said, "If you are really worried, I will send a few people here to take you to Xianyang and keep you safe all the way."
The man next to him also shouted: "You are an envoy, here for the good of our two countries' alliance, what kind of weapons do you need to bring?"
Ji Jincai hesitated for a moment and finally said: "In that case, let's hand over our weapons according to General Cao's words."
Cao Ying thought that since the other party handed over the weapons so readily, it seemed that he was really a mission. Otherwise, if the other party really had any evil intentions, he would never have agreed to hand over the weapons so readily.
After seeing Ji Jin, Guo returned to the team and gave instructions. Everyone took off their sabers. Several of them, including Qi Ning, even took off the bows and arrows they were carrying and sent them all under the stone wall. pile up.
Cao Ying then ordered people to go down and spend some time to open the entrance to the stone wall. He first sent soldiers out to move all the weapons back, and then signaled to Ji Jincai that he could enter.
Ji Jincai led the way, and the team entered the checkpoint like a long snake. Although they had handed over their weapons, the soldiers of the Northern Han Dynasty were still very vigilant, holding the handles of their swords tightly.
Cao Ying had already come down from the wall. Ji Jincai cupped his hand and said with a smile, "Thank you, General Cao, for being so accommodating." He took out a stack of banknotes from his sleeve, stuffed them into Cao Ying's hands, and said with a smile, "It's just a small thing. General Cao will pay for me later." Let’s have a drink, brothers.”
Cao Ying was also happy, kicked up the banknotes, glanced at everyone, then walked to the side of the carriage, glanced at Ji Jincai, and suddenly reached out to lift the curtains, and saw several women sitting inside. Cao Ying suddenly opened the curtains When the curtains were opened, the women immediately lowered their heads.
Cao Ying chuckled, lowered the curtains, and saw a car behind him pulling a big box. He walked over and asked, "What's in this box?"
"These are all antique calligraphy and paintings. Some are treasures given from the palace, some are given to the third prince, and some are given to General Qu." Ji Jincai said with a smile.
Cao Ying said: "Open it and take a look?"
Ji Jincai frowned and said, "General Cao, is this unreasonable? You have seen it yourself. These boxes are sealed and can only be opened when you arrive in Xianyang."
"The general has military orders. Even if someone passes the customs, he must check it carefully." Cao Ying said: "Open the box and let us check it."
Ji Jincai stared at Cao Ying. After a moment, he suddenly said: "Go back!" He turned around and was about to go back. Qi Ning and others immediately made a gesture to turn around. Cao Ying was stunned and suddenly became a little anxious. He stopped and said: "This is What's the meaning?"
"General Cao, I am also an envoy of Da Chu after all. I care about the alliance between the two countries. You asked us to hand over our weapons. We didn't talk nonsense. In order to let you do your job well, we also handed over all the weapons." Ji Jincai said coldly. Said: "Now you know clearly that this box has a seal, but you still want us to open the box and force others to do something difficult. Could it be that my envoy of Da Chu is at your mercy? I am the envoy of Da Chu, and I also want to protect the state of Da Chu. Since Cao Cao The general insists on an inspection, so I have no choice but to return home and explain everything to the emperor. I think the emperor will remember that I care about the state, and even though he did not go to Xianyang, he will treat me lightly." He waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"
Cao Ying suddenly panicked, thinking to himself that he was only a small captain. If he really asked the Chu delegation to turn around and go back, Xianyang would not be able to investigate if Xianyang investigated the case and even the nine tribes were implicated. He hurriedly said: "That's all. , don’t be angry, I’m just following orders. Since there is a seal, I won’t make it difficult for you. "
Ji Jincai just snorted softly and ordered: "Let's go!"
Cao Ying said: "I will send five people here to escort you to Xianyang." Then he ordered five people to follow the team to Xianyang.
After Qi Ning entered the pass, he had already calmly observed the situation around him. The first thing he wanted to find was the location of the watchtower. As he had estimated before, the checkpoints on the Northern Han people's side were indeed roughly the same as those on the Chu country's. Similarly, only a hundred steps away from the stone wall, there was a watchtower standing over there. The watchtower was also lit with torches to facilitate the beacon communication. There were two sentries on the tower, holding longbows.
Currently, there are about twenty or thirty people seen in the post. The number of troops is not large, but they are all strong and bearish, and their bodies are filled with the fierce aura of the northwest people.
Qi Ning knew that there should be more than just these people on the other side, and there should be soldiers nearby.
After selecting five people, Ji Jincai suddenly ordered someone to bring a jar of wine from the car and delivered it to Cao Ying: "General Cao, this is a fine wine collected in the palace. It was specially sent to Xianyang and a jar is kept here. You try it too."
There are very few soldiers who don't drink. Cao Ying is an alcoholic, but he only drinks very crude wine on weekdays. A mere school captain has never drank the fine wine in the palace. He was very happy and said with a smile. : "In that case, I won't be polite." He took it and held it in his arms, with a look of joy between his eyebrows.
Ji Jincai didn't waste any time. With a wave of his hand, the team continued heading north.
The team had walked no more than two miles, and Qining saw a row of cabins built on the roadside. The terrain here was slightly spacious, and the cabins were built against the mountain wall. Qining knew that these should be the barracks of the guards.
There were indeed some soldiers in the barracks. When they saw the team coming, the soldiers in the barracks were all alarmed and came out. Qining glanced at it and saw that there were about ten people in the barracks. Several of them were wearing aprons around their waists, and one of them was There was a smokestack standing on the roof of the house, and it looked like the kitchen. This was where the defenders' food should have been stored.
At this time, he determined the number of people here. There were about forty or fifty people in total, which was not a large number.
The team passed by the row of wooden houses. The five soldiers who were sent to lead the way greeted the soldiers in the barracks and explained the situation. The team did not stop and continued walking forward. After four or five miles, the sky was already dark. Ji Jincai asked a soldier: "Are there any checkpoints ahead?"
"There is another checkpoint more than 20 miles ahead." A soldier said: "It will probably be midnight before we get there. There is a section of road ahead that is rugged and difficult to travel. It will take some time."
Ji Jincai nodded slightly and said: "We have been working for a whole day and we are all tired. If we go two miles further, let's rest first."
The Han soldiers did not doubt that he was there, and said: "There is really a spacious place ahead. It's good to rest there for the night and wait until dawn before leaving. You can't see the road clearly at night, and you will break down if you are not careful." foot."
Not long after walking forward, he saw a quite spacious place. Ji Jin then ordered everyone to stop and distributed dry food to everyone.
The Han soldiers received dry food and after eating and drinking, they saw that many people in the mission were already sleeping on the ground, and some were sitting on the stone wall talking and laughing. These Han soldiers did not come over. They got together to talk and laugh, and when they were bored and lazy, two or three people also lay on the ground and fell asleep. Not long after, the remaining two people were also drowsy.
After eating dry food, Qi Ning leaned against the stone wall and closed his eyes to rest. After a long time, he heard movement around him. He opened his eyes and looked over, only to see Ji Jincai approaching. He lowered his voice and said to himself: "Sir, they are all Go to sleep!"
Qi Ning turned to look at the few Han soldiers. It was dark at this time, and the visible distance in the narrow passage was extremely short. However, Qi Ning's eyesight was amazing. When he saw those few people, he fell asleep. His eyes were cold and he whispered softly. : "It's almost time." He reached into his leather boots and took out the cold blade that was as sharp as iron and held it in his hand.