After the team crossed the river, they marched neither urgently nor slowly, and everything was uneventful along the way. After all, this was in the territory of the Chu State, and there were two hundred elite Yulin warriors guarding the team. Most people would not say that they were close, but they would only see it from a distance. , also stayed away first to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.
After walking for another two days, it was almost dark and we found a place to camp on a slightly higher ground. There was a creek nearby, which was just right to replenish the water source.
The mission did not know the local officials along the way. The main purpose was to avoid delaying the trip. Before the team set off, tents were prepared for camping. Therefore, before dark, the scouts sent out would first find a suitable place and set up camp on the spot. Setting up camp does not mean traveling at night, but also to allow everyone to get adequate rest.
At the camp site, the stream water is clear and has very little pollution. There is no problem in drinking it directly.
After the soldiers dismounted, they set up tents and piled dead branches in front of the tents. The campfire was blazing. The vehicles were concentrated in the innermost part. There was a circle of tents on the outside. Especially in the dead corners of the camp, there were many guards arranged to hold them down. The four corners were fortified, and the horses were arranged on the outermost layer. Wu Dalin ordered all of this to be arranged. Qining saw this and thought that Wu Dalin was quite capable. This arrangement alone was very impressive.
In terms of food, we have prepared dried meat and preserved fruits for easy storage. The Yulin soldiers are divided into three shifts, and they eat in rotation.
After dinner, Hu Bowen came to Qi Ning's tent and saw Qi Ning wiping his sword under the light. He smiled and said: "Master Hou, this sword is a famous sword that is hard to find."
Over the past few days, Qi Ning also had a rough understanding of Hu Bowen's temperament. Hu Bowen was easy-going and shrewd. He always had a smile on his face no matter who he spoke to. He looked very kind, but he was also very polite in his actions. Qining had an idea and didn't care about trivial matters, so Hu Bowen gave orders for the team's departure and camp.
Hu Bowen was easy to get along with, and Qining was usually good-tempered. As long as others were kind to him, he was also very polite to others. Therefore, even though they only got along for a few days, the relationship between Hu Bowen and Qining was quite harmonious. Occasionally, When we get together, we talk and laugh.
"Master Hu has been traveling very hard these days, and he doesn't look tired." Qining put down the Pilu Sword he was cleaning and said with a smile: "To tell you the truth, when I left Beijing, I was still thinking about how Mr. Hu was born as a scholar. Will Mr. Hu be able to endure the journey of heaven? Now it seems that I am worrying too much."
Hu Bowen said with a smile: "Although I am a scholar, I occasionally do boxing to keep fit. Mr. Hou, I am not boasting. No matter how tired I am, as long as I sleep for one night, I will be full of energy the next day." , no fatigue at all.”
Qi Ning laughed, and at this moment, he suddenly heard a voice from outside the tent: "Master Marquis, Liang Xiong wants to see you!"
Qi Ning thought that except for the soldiers on duty, all the other soldiers had returned to the camp to rest. Qi Feng and others were also ordered to rest by themselves, but they didn't know what Liang Xiong was doing, so he ordered: "Come in."
Liang Xiong opened the tent and walked in. When he saw Hu Bowen was there, he was startled for a moment, but he still stepped forward and said, "Master Hou, Master Hu!"
Hu Bowen nodded and asked, "Deputy Leader Liang, what do you want to report?"
Liang Xiong hesitated to speak, but Qi Ning said: "Deputy Leader Liang, if you have anything to say, just say it without hesitation."
Liang Xiong took a few steps forward and whispered: "Master Hou, I'm not sure, but... I noticed that after we left the capital, someone nearby seems to have been watching us."
Hu Bowen was startled and frowned: "Someone is watching us? Deputy leader Liang, can you see clearly? Why didn't you report it earlier?"
"Master Hu, after we left the capital, we camped and rested every night. There seemed to be shadows nearby." Liang Xiong lowered his voice and said, "Although I was aware of it, I'm not sure. Last night, I patrolled deliberately and found someone peeping nearby. , so I took two people with me, went around in a circle and sneaked closer, but there was no trace, but there were indeed traces of someone staying in that location."
Hu Bowen and Qin Ning looked at each other and still frowned: "Does Leader Wu know about this?"
Liang Xiong shook his head and said: "Beizi didn't have any real evidence, so I didn't dare to talk nonsense. Just now, Beizi found someone nearby again, so he sneaked over again. The man was very alert. I hadn't gotten close yet, but he noticed me and dodged. He disappeared. I found the trace, and I searched around but couldn't find it." He looked at Qining and said, "Master Hou, this matter is strange. Although I didn't catch anyone, for the sake of safety, I thought I'd better come and report to Master Hou. "
Qi Ning nodded and said: "You did the right thing." He waved his hand and said: "I already know it at this time. You go down first and let everyone be more vigilant."
Liang Xiong bowed his hands and stepped back. Qining then asked Hu Bowen: "Master Hu, Liang Xiong said that we have been followed and monitored. What do you think?"
Hu Bowen frowned and said, "It doesn't look like it's fake, but who could be following us? What do they want?"
Qi Ning smiled and said: "If someone really wants to set up the mission, I am most worried about only one thing."
"Oh?" Hu Bowen said, "Please give me some advice."
"Gifts!" Qi Ning said with a smile: "We have nearly three hundred people. These Yulin warriors are all elite and skilled warriors. Ordinary Mao bandits certainly don't dare to target the mission. And in a head-on fight, there are not many opponents. Hundreds of people don’t dare to take action easily.”
Hu Bowen nodded and said: "What the Marquis said is absolutely true. These Yulin warriors were carefully selected by the imperial court. The selection of soldiers in the Yulin camp is very harsh. These people can be regarded as the elite among the elite. They really want to fight. , they are also very brave, if we talk about ordinary bandits, this group of Yulin guards will have no problem if one can fight against five."
"So the other party should not target the mission itself." Qi Ning said softly: "It is naturally because of our responsibilities to target us. As long as there is anything wrong with the gifts we brought over, our trip to Dongqi will definitely be Lots of trouble.”
Hu Bowen changed his face slightly and said: "Master Hou, it doesn't matter if anything else goes wrong, but there can't be any mistakes between the Marquis and the gifts. The Marquis has a rich body, so naturally there can't be any mistakes, and these gifts can also be regarded as household items." We have finally prepared them for this trip to Dong Qi. If we don’t have these gifts, how can we propose marriage to Dong Qi?” With a serious look, he said: “Even ordinary people need to prepare some small gifts when they come to visit. When we arrive in Dong Qi, If we are empty-handed, not only will we not be able to ask for marriage, but we may also be misunderstood by the people of Dong Qi that we are insulting them, which will cause trouble."
Qi Ning said softly. In fact, he knew the importance of these gifts from the moment he left the capital. After all, Dong Qi is also a small country, so he may not really care about the value of these gifts. But if there are no such gifts, , it is impossible to propose marriage to Dong Qi. After all, this is a matter of face. The country has national character. The Chu State prepares generous gifts to show the magnanimity of a great country. Dong Qi needs these gifts to show the dignity of Dong Qi State.
So although he didn't seem to care about anything big or small during the trip, he always paid attention to the carts of gifts.
Once these gifts are lost, it will be impossible to complete the task of proposing marriage to Dong Qi, and Dou Kui and his gang will definitely seize this opportunity to violently attack Shen Yu himself, which will really cause some trouble.
"Master Hu, in your opinion, who would be trying to trick us?" Qi Ning said softly: "We have just crossed the Yangtze River. According to Liang Xiong, he had already noticed someone following him before. It seems that the other party It's very possible that they were already targeting us when we left Beijing."
Hu Bowen was thoughtful, pondered for a moment, and then sighed: "Master Hou, I really don't dare to make random guesses." Wei lowered his voice and said: "But the people who want to ruin this marriage proposal the most are of course the Northern Han people."
"Lord Hu is right, the people of the Northern Han Dynasty naturally don't want us to successfully complete our mission." Qi Ning chuckled and said: "However, from the time when the emperor issued an order to send an envoy to Dong Qi to when we set off, it only took about ten days. There has been no news before. If the Northern Han people have spies in the capital and find out the news, they will immediately report it to the Northern Han Dynasty. It is impossible for the Northern Han Dynasty to get the news immediately."
Hu Bowen stroked his beard and nodded: "What the Marquis said is absolutely true. The Northern Han Dynasty got the news and sent people here to destroy it. It is impossible to make arrangements in such a short time for such a big event. I'm afraid that the secret talks of the Northern Han Dynasty hiding in the capital would not dare to take matters into their own hands and plot sabotage."
Qi Ning whispered: "Master Hu, on this mission, I am the chief envoy and you are the deputy envoy. Whether we are successful or not, we are tied together. If the emperor's instructions are successfully completed, you and I will make a contribution." , Needless to say, the emperor's commendation, but if there is a slight negligence, you and I will be involved in this failure. I am only worried that someone in the court will take the opportunity to find fault with us. "
Hu Bowen naturally understood this truth, and said softly: "What the Marquis said is absolutely true, so after Xiaguan left the capital, he was very cautious along the way and did not dare to make any mistakes."
"Master Hu and I have been getting along quite well these days. In addition, you and I are closely related to each other, so there is no need to hide some words between you and me." Qining said: "Master Hu, what do you think about the imperial court? Are there people inside who want to see our jokes, or even... want to prevent you and me from successfully proposing to marry?"
Hu Bowen's body trembled slightly. He looked at Qi Ning and saw that although Qi Ning was smiling, his expression was solemn. He thought for a moment and then said softly: "Master Marquis, do you suspect that the person following us is... sent by someone from the court?"
Qi Ning sighed: "Master Hu is well-informed, much more knowledgeable than me. We have only found out that someone may be following us. We don't know anything else, that is, whether the person following him is really targeting the mission. Come on, we are not sure, so I have some doubts in my mind. If it is not the Northern Han people, who would want to sabotage the mission to ask for marriage? We at least have an idea, otherwise we will be confused. The journey is still long, and something may really go wrong. "