The muscles on Zheng Sen's face twitched, and he replied with trembling lips: "Brother, if what you said is true, God will help you; if it is a lie, then you will be punished by heaven and earth. This is fate, and I can't control it. Go!"
Qiu Yizi bowed again, but when he saw Zheng Xin coming out of the house, he said, "I appreciate your kindness, second brother. But I have one more thing to say: Zheng Xin is indeed a ruthless, ungrateful, shameless, unfaithful, evil villain. Second brother, you'd better be careful when you stay with him." After that, Qiu Yizi turned around and calmly walked out of the "Qingya Temple" surrounded by guards.
Zheng Xin was furious when he saw Qiu Yizhi was about to leave unscathed. However, he was also troubled by the fact that his fifty or so Northwest Army soldiers had long lost their combat effectiveness. He could only beg Zheng Sen: "Second brother, the emperor's body is still warm, how can we let the murderer go easily? Qiu Yizhi has always been treacherous. If he gets away, I don't know when we can bring him to justice in the future. Please give the order to capture him quickly!"
Zheng Sen was pondering Qiu Yizi's instructions with a lot on his mind, and he seemed not to hear what Zheng Xin said in his ear.
Qiu Yizi came out of the "Qingya Temple", turned around and looked at Jinling City, a big city where so many things had happened, and couldn't help but sighed.
While he was sighing, Zhao Chengxiao came up and asked, "Sir, where should we go now?"
Qiu Yizi sighed again: "We can only take it one step at a time. Anyway, I have no reconciliation with this thief Zheng Xin, and I must bring him to justice. But now we can't stay in Jinling City with more than two hundred people. Let's pick up Mr. Lin first and discuss it after leaving the city."
So everyone, led by Qiu Yizi, went to Lin Shuhan's manor.
Lin Shuhan had already known the news after listening to Liu Qing's report, and he was certain that something big was going to happen, so he ordered everyone to pack up their belongings and wait for Qiu Yizi's arrival.
When Qiu Yizhi arrived at the manor, he discussed with Lin Shuhan and felt that the most important thing now was to evacuate Jinling City and protect their own safety. Therefore, he did not stay any longer and left the manor and went out of the city.
Before leaving the manor, Qiu Yizhi remembered that he still had an uncle, Zhao Fuyi, who was not doing well, and was still in the city. Zheng Xin would inevitably vent his anger on him. Although this uncle had never been very close to him, he was still his flesh and blood after all, so he asked Lin Shuhan to find a family member to inform Zhao Fuyi and tell him to be careful.
If Li Shengjie's fleet was still parked at the Yanziji Wharf, Qiu Yizi would be able to cross the river to the north by water and join forces with Zheng Miao, the third prince of the emperor who was serving as regent in the capital Luoyang, to send a large army to attack Zheng Xin.
But when Qiu Yizi just got out of prison, in order to be safe, he sent someone to ask Li Shengjie to leave Yanziji Wharf. Although his dozen or so ships were huge, they were still a drop in the ocean in the vast Yangtze River, and there was no news from them.
Therefore, Qiu Yizi could only choose the nearest Jinling West Gate - Chaoyang Gate - to leave the city by land. Fortunately, he acted very quickly, and Zheng Xin had not yet had time to organize a defense, so he passed through Chaoyang Gate without any obstacles and left Jinling City.
Just after leaving Jinling, I saw a group of imperial troops coming towards Jinling, driving a group of war horses.
When Qiu Yizi saw that the leader of the government troops was someone he was familiar with, he asked him a question and learned that he was driving troops from the north to the south of the Yangtze River on military orders.
So Qiu Yizi did not discuss it with him, and asked Zhao Chengxiao and others to select two hundred good horses from them, and then went northwest along the main road again.
As she walked, Qiu Yizhi suddenly felt a sense of sadness in her heart.
I have fought against the false emperor Zheng Yao, pirates, Tianzun believers, Lingnan Palace and other powerful enemies before, and I have been in desperate situations several times, and my life is almost in danger. However, at that time, I knew very well that even if I was really defeated, as long as I could escape and return to the emperor and my master, I would naturally have a chance to make a comeback. But now, my adoptive father Emperor Zheng Rong has passed away, my master and prime minister Zhongli Kuang has passed away, and my three brothers are also half-hearted. The only people I can rely on are these few confidants and more than 200 soldiers around me. Apart from them, I have no relatives. Once I lose power, I will have no chance to turn over.
Thinking of this, Qiu Yizi, sitting on his horse, suddenly sighed, as if to dispel all the resentment, anger, and bad luck in his chest from his body.
Wen Lingjiao rode behind Qiu Yizi's horse. When she heard him sigh so hard, she squeezed her legs under the horse's belly, rode to Qiu Yizi's side, and asked, "Master, what's wrong with you?"
Qiu Yizi did not answer, but asked: "The situation was urgent just now, and I didn't have time to ask you. Your brother is dead... Are you okay?" He was so confused that he didn't know how to start.
Wen Lingjiao understood Qiu Yizi's words and sighed softly, "This is good for him. He has worked so hard for the great cause and finally got relief today. He has devoted his heart and soul to the Holy Church. If the Heavenly Venerable has a spirit, he will definitely let him ascend to heaven. This can be considered a positive result."
Qiu Yizi listened and nodded, but was thinking in her heart: The cult leader is already dead, why are you still mentioning such vague and absurd words as Tianzun and heaven? However, Wen Lingjiao has been accepting these teachings of Tianzun since she was a child, and it is not easy for her to give up her faith in the blink of an eye.
So Qiu Yizi replied: "Now your brother is gone, and the old senior from the Yuchi family is gone too. As for me, my adoptive father is dead, and my master is dead too. We are truly a pair of wanderers in this world..."
Wen Lingjiao heard the sad tone in his words, bit her lower lip and said, "Then...then you have to be nicer to me in the future."
Hearing this, Qiu Yizhi suddenly woke up, and suddenly remembered that there was another Princess Yiran in the north, and a son that Princess Yiran had given birth to for him. He felt that it was not good to hide this from Wen Lingjiao, so he hesitated for a long time before asking, "That... Princess Yiran of Bohai, do you still remember her?"
Wen Lingjiao had long been in love with Qiu Yizi, so when she mentioned the Princess of Bohai, who grew up with her lover, she felt a little sad. She lowered her head and replied, "I remember. What's wrong? Why did you talk about her for no reason?"
Even though Qiu Yizi was an eloquent man, he didn't know how to modify his words on such a matter and just said bluntly: "The late emperor said that Princess Yiran gave birth to a son for me, and now he is being fostered in the Kingdom of Bohai..." After saying these few words, Qiu Yizi stopped talking and lowered his head to look at the soft and slender mane of the blue Arabian horse under his crotch.
Wen Lingjiao was shocked when she heard this: "When did you have that kind of thing with Princess Yiran?"
Qiu Yizi answered truthfully: "I remember it was when the emperor had just ascended the throne, which was about four or five years ago..." As he spoke, he was at a loss for words again.
Wen Lingjiao was of course unhappy about what happened, but when she thought about it carefully, she realized that Qiu Yizi was her only support in this world and she absolutely could not lose her again. What's more, people of lower status than her all had three wives and four concubines, so she really had no right to complain.
Wen Lingjiao calmed down and said, "You are almost thirty this year. If it were someone else, they would have children around them. It's a pity that I haven't had the blessing to give birth to a child for you in the past one or two years. At least you have Princess Yiran to continue your family line. This... this... this actually makes me very happy for you..."
Qiu Yizhi was relieved when she heard Wen Lingjiao's words, although she didn't know whether they came from her heart. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Zhao Chengxiao coming from behind and reported, "Sir, there is something going on."
Now is a time of crisis. When Qiu Yizhi heard this, he immediately shuddered and asked, "What's the situation? Tell me quickly."
Zhao Chengxiao replied: "The brothers who were sent out in front reported that a few people came from the road ahead..."
"Please be more specific. Who are the people? How many people are here?" Qiu Yizi asked anxiously.
Zhao Chengxiao quickly replied: "There were only about ten people and two large vehicles. It was nothing special, but the word 'Dai' was written on the flag they were holding..."
"Dai Luanxiang!" Qiu Yizi blurted out, "It's Dai Luanxiang, Marshal Dai is here!"
The "Dai Luanxiang" mentioned by Qiu Yizhi is known as the best general in the world. No matter his character, loyalty, wisdom, military training, or combat, he is one of the best in the Han Dynasty. He became famous very early, and was once as famous as Zheng Rong, who was still the King of Youyan. He was also named the former general of the imperial army, and was a pillar of the court. In the "Battle of Rebellion" that year, Dai Luanxiang worked for the court, and the Youyan army suffered countless losses in his hands. It was Qiu Yizhi who cleverly used the counter-espionage strategy to trick the pseudo-Emperor Zheng Yao's army to capture Dai Luanxiang; and then he took a big risk to rescue Dai Luanxiang. After this storm of capture and release, Dai Luanxiang finally surrendered to Emperor Zheng Rong wholeheartedly, and he also formed a life-and-death friendship with Qiu Yizhi.
After Zheng Rong ascended the throne, Dai Luanxiang was still appointed as the general of the imperial guards, but because he was not from the Youyan Dao, he did not have much military power, and mainly handled some trivial affairs in the Ministry of War. However, after the former emperor Zheng Rong suppressed the rebellion of the King of Lingnan, he finally remembered this not-so-old veteran general and issued an imperial decree to transfer him to Lingnan to take charge of the army and guard the southeastern border for the Han Dynasty.
It was for this reason that Dai Luanxiang set out from the capital Luoyang, bringing his two children and elderly mother, and rushed to Luoyang to meet the emperor and receive his decree.
Therefore, when Qiu Yizi heard that Dai Luanxiang was coming, he was extremely happy, and the worries in his mind seemed to be forgotten a little. He immediately ordered: "Let's go and meet Marshal Dai." After that, he called a few of his confidants and selected eighteen personal guards, and then went in the direction where Dai Luanxiang was going.
After walking for only a cup of tea, Qiu Yizi saw three people riding horses on the road in front of him, and two carriages were driving behind them. On each carriage was a small flag about two or three feet square, with "Former General Dai of the Han Dynasty" written on it.
As expected, Dai Luanxiang had arrived. Qiu Yizi was so delighted that he could not wait to send someone to inform him. He loosened the reins and the horse under him started galloping forward with all four hooves flying.
Before he entered, he suddenly saw one of them standing in front on horseback, holding the spear in his hand horizontally, and asked loudly: "Who are you? Please tell me your name first!"
Qiu Yizhi saw that the man was at most in his early twenties, with a square face full of heroic spirit and two bright eyes, so he answered loudly: "Dai Song, do you still recognize me?"
It was already evening and the light was not strong. Dai Song squinted his eyes and looked for a long time. Finally, he burst out laughing and said, "It turns out that it is Lord Qiu. How rare, how rare!" After that, he bowed on the horse.