Zhang Long understood some of these measures, did not understand some, and some made him quite unhappy. However, when he thought that this matter concerned the affairs of the country, he could only nod and agree. He then said goodbye, got off the boat, and prepared for the journey overnight.
At dawn the next day, Zhang Long personally led a group of people, drove several large carriages and more than 200 horses, and came to Li Shengjie's ship. The soldiers who drove the carriages and horses did not stay for long, but left the carriages and horses behind and left, leaving Zhang Long alone waiting under the ship.
This was because Qiu Yizi was afraid that there might be spies from Lingnan Dao or Tianzun Sect mixed in with the government troops, so the first order was to require Zhang Long not to use any government troops during the escort process, but only Qiu Yizi's most trusted personal soldiers and militiamen, to prevent others from taking advantage of the situation and causing trouble.
Qiu Yizi saw that all the government troops had dispersed on the boat, so he led Zhao Chengxiao and others down from the boat. After greeting Zhang Long, he checked the horses and vehicles carefully, inside and out. Only then did he feel relieved, and returned to the boat, commanding his personal soldiers and militia to invite Lingnan King Zheng Gui to disembark.
Zheng Gui was now a prisoner. Although he was not convinced, he still had some composure. He did not struggle violently, nor did he make unreasonable demands. He just sat in the big basket and was slowly lowered down. Yuchi Jiming was guarding the basket.
As soon as the King of Lingnan landed, Qiu Yizi respectfully invited him to sit in the largest and strongest of several carriages.
Zheng Gui looked around and asked, "Where is this?"
He listened to Qiu Yizi's word-by-word answer "This is Yangzhou", then he nodded, stopped talking, and got into the carriage alone.
Qiu Yizi felt slightly relieved upon seeing this, and ordered his men to lower the women, the Ferghana horses, and the water and food that had been prepared long ago from the boat and load them into the carriage. He also sent a trusted personal soldier on a fast horse to the capital Luoyang with his letter, and then drove his men and horses along the main road towards Luoyang.
As for the deceased Yin Chengliang and the living Yin Tai and his son, although they were also quite important figures, they seemed insignificant compared with Lingnan King Zheng Gui. Qiu Yizi only asked Zhang Long to send a few trusted generals to escort them to the Ministry of Justice in the capital by another route.
As for the young captain Li Shengjie, Qiu Yizi asked him to stay at the Yangzhou dock in the name of waiting for reward from the court to prevent the news from leaking out.
Li Shengjie was a young man after all, and he didn't understand Qiu Yizhi's thoughts. When he heard that the court had a reward, he happily agreed, but he only asked the court to supply daily food and water. These were all trivial matters, and Zhang Long was in charge of the military affairs along the river, so he didn't care about these small supplies, so he agreed without thinking.
So, under the personal leadership of Zhang Long, Qiu Yi and his party only took the main road and avoided the small roads, and hid at night and went out during the day. They would rather walk slowly and steadily than take any risk.
Fortunately, the news that the imperial court was suppressing the rebellion was very strong, and there were endless military camps on both sides of the road. Not to mention the bandits and robbers, even the ordinary petty thieves and extortionists were scared and behaved themselves.
After traveling through the military camps for two days, the air around us finally became a little more relaxed. In addition to the gradually sparse military camps on both sides of the road, there were also many farmlands waiting for spring plowing. A city was faintly visible on the distant horizon.
Qiu Yizi saw this and raised his left hand while riding on his horse to signal the team to stop.
Zhang Long hurriedly rode forward and asked, "Your Highness Yi, what's wrong? Is there anything unusual?"
Qiu Yizi did not answer, but looked at the sun and said, "I have an appointment with someone here. Judging from the time, it should be here."
Zhang Long bowed and said, "I wonder who His Highness Yi has an appointment with? We can't afford to waste time right now, how about we wait while we walk?"
Qiu Yizhi shook his head: "This place is gradually out of our direct control. It is full of dangers. We'd better be more cautious and not slack off..."
Although Zhang Long was somewhat disapproving, thinking that His Highness Yi was too timid and cautious, he also knew that there could be no room for error in escorting the people on the vehicle. If anything really went wrong, he would not be able to bear such a heavy responsibility.
So Zhang Long had to calm down and sit on the horse with Qiu Yizi, looking at something at the end of the straight and wide road.
The two waited in silence for a cup of tea, and indeed saw a cloud of dust rising in the distance, as if two fast horses were approaching quickly. The soldiers did not dare to neglect it, and hurriedly formed a formation of "Dangshiying" with the soldiers in front, the elite soldiers in the back, and the crossbowmen on both wings, fearing that the enemy would have bad intentions.
When the two riders gradually approached, Qiu Yizi saw their faces clearly and a smile immediately appeared on his face. He waved his hand to signal his personal soldiers to relax their guard. He then loosened the reins, slowly took a few steps forward, dismounted, and went forward to meet them.
The two people on the opposite side also saw Qiu Yizi, so they dismounted their horses, pulled the reins, and came forward to Qiu Yizi.
One of them saluted and said, "Sir, I am back. The matter has been settled. There is no difficulty."
Qiu Yizi nodded and said, "You've worked hard. Come back and move with the team."
The person who spoke was Qiu Yizi's personal soldier who had been sent out to do the job.
The other man was wearing a slightly loose dark blue silk robe. He had a very heroic face and a thick straight mustache. He bowed to Qiu Yizi and said, "My dear brother, I haven't seen you for a long time. I missed you so much."
This person is Yuchi Lianghong, the leader of the martial arts world, who is known as the best martial artist in the world. Although he is a man of the world, he is taken in by Emperor Zheng Rong because of Qiu Yizhi. He not only serves as the chief martial arts instructor of the imperial army, but also works in the Ministry of Justice to control martial artists. He and Qiu Yizhi have experienced life and death several times, and they are undoubtedly friends in need.
Therefore, when Qiu Yi saw him after two years, she was also quite moved. After exchanging a lot of touching greetings, she turned the conversation to business: "Brother, I have come a long way to invite you here. Do you know why?"
Yuchi Lianghong shook his head and said, "I don't know. I just saw this subordinate of mine delivering a handwritten letter from me, asking me to come immediately and not to make a big fuss about it. I know that I always do things unexpectedly, and there must be a reason for this arrangement. So I made an excuse, asked for leave from my superiors, and came here immediately. As for what exactly needs my help, I have no idea."
Qiu Yizi nodded, approached Yuchi Lianghong and said, "I have captured an important person on the battlefield and am about to send him to the capital Luoyang. I am afraid that someone will rob him on the way, so I asked you to come and protect him."
Yuchi Lianghong was stunned for a moment, then he said, "Isn't my daughter Jiming right beside you, brother? Her martial arts skills are quite impressive, and even she is not so sure. I am afraid that the person you caught is really very important."
Qiu Yi smiled and said, "It's not that Ji Ming is unsure, but this person is too important and can't make any mistakes. Besides, I think there may be a tough opponent secretly following us along the way. It may be difficult for Ji Ming to handle it all by himself..."
Yuchi Lianghong was even more confused after hearing this. He subconsciously looked up and saw that no one was eavesdropping, so he asked in a low voice, "Who are you escorting, brother? Can you tell me about it?"
Qiu Yi thought that her sworn brother was a confidential person, and she would not be afraid of leaking the secret after telling him the identity of this person. It might also make him more focused, so she leaned close to Yuchi Lianghong's ear and said, "King Zheng Gui of Lingnan!"
When Yuchi Lianghong heard these five words, he was so shocked that he took a half step back and looked at Qiu Yizi with surprised eyes. Fortunately, he was the leader of the martial arts world after all, and he had experienced countless storms in the world. After a while, he reacted and said with a smile: "My dear brother, you really do things differently. Since you have captured the Prince of Lingnan, it can be said to be the first merit in the world. I wonder how the emperor will reward my dear brother. I would like to congratulate my dear brother here first." As he said that, he bowed to Qiu Yizi.
Qiu Yizhi supported Yuchi Lianghong and said with a wry smile: "I just want to send the prince to the capital safely, and I will be thankful. How can I have the mood to think about these things?"
Yuchi Lianghong thought about it and realized that this was indeed the truth, so he said seriously: "Brother, I am also a person who eats the court's salary, so I have to work for the court. The matter of escorting the King of Lingnan is related to the court and the country, and it is indeed not negligent. Just now, my dear brother mentioned that there might be a difficult opponent, but I don't know who this person is?"
Qiu Yizi smiled bitterly again: "It turns out that she is not a stranger, but an old lady from your Yuchi family."
Yuchi Lianghong suddenly realized: "It turned out to be her."
"What? Brother, do you really know him?" Qiu Yizi asked.
This time it was Yuchi Lianghong's turn to smile bitterly. "This elder is two generations apart from me. When she got into trouble, I was not even born yet. The clan has always been very secretive about this matter, and it is also related to the grudges of previous generations. I can't ask too much about it, but I have heard a little about it. Oh, to be honest, I didn't know the situation until Jiming wrote to me two years ago."
Since Yuchi Jiming was mentioned, Qiu Yizi asked loudly, "Where is Jiming? Your father is here, why don't you come over to greet him?"
After hearing Qiu Yizi's call, Yuchi Jiming dodged and squeezed out of the crowd for a long time, lowered his head and timidly said to Yuchi Lianghong: "Dad, I'm here."
Yuchi Lianghong just replied with a "hmm" and stopped talking.
Qiu Yizi found the conversation between the father and daughter a little funny, so he tried to smooth things over by saying, "How come your father and daughter are meeting like enemies in the martial arts world, holding a reconciliation banquet? Well, I think we should not hurry on our journey today, but find a safe and secluded place to stay and discuss the countermeasures carefully, how about that?"
Yuchi Lianghong naturally had no reason to object, so he nodded and agreed.
Qiu Yizi was afraid of getting into trouble if he went to a crowded and gossipy place in the city, so he chose a post station next to the official road and asked Zhang Long to send all the post station masters and runners away in the name of military use, which was considered a temporary requisition.
Even with the presence of two martial arts masters, Yuchi Lianghong and Yuchi Jiming, and the guards around him being trustworthy people, Qiu Yizi still felt a little uneasy. He asked Zhao Chengxiao to accompany him and patrol the small post station inside and out, up and down, twice before returning to his dormitory.
When I pushed the door open and entered the house, I saw Lin Shuhan, Yuchi Lianghong, Yuchi Jiming and Zhang Long already sitting in the palm-sized room. They were each holding a cup of warm tea and talking about something.
When Yuchi Jiming saw Qiu Yizi and Zhao Chengxiao coming in, he knew that he was a junior, so he stood up and stood aside, giving up a chair for them.
Yuchi Lianghong, who was standing by, smiled with satisfaction when he saw his daughter was sensible, and said, "Please take a seat, my dear brother. I have long admired the name of Mr. Lin Shuhan, the 'Ban Song Jushi', and I am seeking advice from him."