The night wind was cold, whistling past my ears.
Qi Changyi's cheeks were stinging painfully from the wind, and his body was almost numb from the cold.
The two rushed to the north city wall. There was a dark figure standing under the high wall. After seeing the people coming, he hurried over to meet them.
"General, Your Highness."
Only when you get closer can you see clearly that the man is wearing the clothes of the Royal Guards and has a Royal Guards sword on his waist.
"Without further delay, both of you follow me!"
Zhao Litang got off the horse first and turned around to pick up Qi Changyi, but saw him staring at the man's clothes with a nervous look on his face.
Zhao Litang explained to him, "Don't be afraid, this is my former subordinate, and now he is just working in the imperial capital. You can definitely trust him. Come down quickly, the patrolling army will soon find this place, we have to leave the city as soon as possible."
As he said this, he was about to pick Qi Changyi up from the horse, but Qi Changyi dodged his outstretched hand by turning sideways, and instead held his hand with one hand, then carefully turned over and jumped off the horse.
Qi Changyi was so unskilled in dismounting that he almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Zhao Litang helped him up and he was able to stand steadily.
"Thank you, Brother Tang."
Qi Changyi withdrew his hand and thanked him quietly.
Zhao Litang was stunned for a moment, but didn't care. He took him and followed the man and walked quickly.
The three of them arrived not far from the city gate. The area to the north of the city was sparsely populated, with very few pedestrians passing through on weekdays, and the supervision was relatively lax.
The man gave Zhao Litang and Qi Changyi each a set of imperial guards' uniform and asked them to wear it outside.
"Just blend in with the team and follow me out. Don't look up or speak. Although these soldiers may not recognize you, it's still better to be careful."
After putting on his clothes, Zhao Litang's body shape made it impossible for him to be recognized among the soldiers.
But that loose clothes looked like a costume on Qi Changyi. The sleeves and pants were too long, and he had to roll them up several times to ensure that they didn't drag on the ground, like a child who had stolen adult clothes.
Zhao Litang looked at the skinny Qi Changyi, who was shaking in his clothes, with a worried look on his face. "Is this okay? I feel like it's a little dangerous. Otherwise..."
Before he could finish, he saw torches suddenly appearing on the street in the distance. It was the patrolling guards who were about to arrive.
"General! There's no time to hesitate! Hurry! Go! At this point, we have no choice but to try our best!"
The three men put on their armor and blended into the queue in the north of the city under the cover of night.
It turned out that the subordinate was actually a small team leader. He walked to the front of the team and led a few people towards the city gate.
"Stop! What are you doing? Don't you know that the city gates are blocked tonight? No one is allowed to enter or leave!"
The guard at the gate really stopped the group of people.
"We were ordered to go out of the city to look for the assassin."
The guards looked at each other.
"Leave the city? The order we received was to seal off the city! Whose orders are you following?"
The man bowed his hands towards the height and said, "Of course, I am following the orders of Master Pei. If things are delayed, I don't know if you can afford the consequences!"
The moving torches in the distance gradually increased in number, illuminating half of the sky above the imperial capital. If they didn't leave the city soon, the guards would be here soon!
"Look! Master Pei is also leading his men to chase us here. Originally, Master wanted us to search outside the city first. If Master finds that we haven't left the city yet when he arrives..."
The guards were scared.
"Quick, go open the city gate!"
The city gate opened, and several teams walked out in an orderly manner. As soon as they walked out of the city gate, they disappeared into the darkness and disappeared without a trace.
The guards breathed a sigh of relief. They almost made a big mistake. They could not offend anyone but Lord Pei, otherwise they would die with their bodies intact.
When the mighty Imperial Guards arrived, there was no one at the north gate of the city.
The guards spread out and formed two neat rows, holding torches high in their hands.
Pei Zheng came over from behind on horseback, the sound of horse hooves echoing in the silent night.
"Have any suspects emerged?"
Several guards knelt tremblingly beside them, "To reply to your Excellency, except for the team that just went out of the city for inspection, there is no one else waiting."
The reins were tightened, and the horse screamed in pain. A gap appeared on its mouth, and blood dripped out.
Pei Zheng jumped off his horse, walked to the man who was speaking, and looked at him coldly.
"Out of town for inspection?"
The sound was three times colder than the cold wind blowing in the face.
"Yes... yes... they said that they were following your orders... to go out of the city for inspection first... I dare not disobey... so... just let them go..."
Pei Zheng asked angrily, "How many people left the city?"
"Ten people... I think it's eleven people... No, it's twelve people..."
"Useless stuff!"
Before he could finish his words, Pei Zheng drew out the sword of a man next to him. With a flash of cold light, the guards at the gate fell in a pool of blood before they could even wail.
Pei Zheng's hand had already been cut by the sword and the blood had frozen. When he gripped the sword hard, the wound began to bleed again.
"Just now, who said that they saw a man in black in the south of the city?"
If they hadn't been misled to go to the south of the city, how would they have been given the chance to escape!
These useless things! They can't even stop a little man! They all deserve to be killed!
The sword in Pei Zheng's hand was covered in blood. He seemed to be blood-thirsty and asked with gritted teeth.
The person who reported it knelt down at Pei Zheng's feet with a plop, and kowtowed with a trembling voice, "Sir, it was my incompetence that led me to be deceived by the thieves. I... will obey your punishment!"
Pei Zheng sneered and raised the sword, just as he was about to chop it down, but the man kneeling on the ground was suddenly kicked to the side.
The cold sword hit the ground, leaving a deep dent.
Cheng Feng stood beside Pei Zhengjian with his hands folded, bowed his head and said, "Master, I know how you feel, but why not spare his life for now and let him go and hunt down the assassin to atone for his mistakes."
The man also knelt down again and said, "I hope you can give me a chance to redeem myself. I will do my best to catch the assassin!"
Pei Zheng's grip became tighter and tighter, and the blood in his palm kept dripping down the sword, forming a small pool of red.
He knew that Chengfeng was not only pleading for that person, but more importantly, he was helping him regain his sanity and calm his anger.
The cruelty and depression in his heart surged up, and he often couldn't control his violent thoughts.
He has already killed several people in a row. If he continues like this, he will probably kill everyone present before he stops.
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to regain my calm and rationality.
Xi Guang threw the sword to the ground with a bang, and Pei Zheng shook his sleeves and jumped on the horse.
"Get lost now."
"yes!"
The kneeling man stood up, ordered people to open the city gate, and rushed out with a large number of guards.
The torches rushed out of the city in a huge crowd, then scattered and disappeared into the dark night.
Chengfeng stood beside the horse, tore off a corner of his sleeve, and simply tied it around Pei Zheng's palm to stop the bleeding.
The man on the horse looked outside the city gate, his eyes gloomy and unclear.
Qi Changyi was sitting in the carriage, which was speeding away from the imperial capital.
He lifted the curtain and took a last look at the towering city gate of the imperial capital in the dim moonlight.
It was like a cage, imprisoning him and binding him.
He was very happy in the first few years of his life there. He had his mother and his father, and was loved and pampered. He rode on his father's shoulders and laughed, and hid in his mother's arms and acted like a spoiled child.
But later, the happiness was gone.
His mother died, his father no longer loved him, and he gradually became different from ordinary people after suffering a serious illness. They laughed at him for being stupid, and he suffered all kinds of humiliation and pain, but he still tried hard to live.
Because his mother told him that she would always be with him in secret. Although he couldn't see her, she could see him, so he had to live happily every day.
So even though he lived alone in that remote and cold little bedroom, he was still innocent and kind, and always faced all the bitterness, pain, darkness and obscurity with a bright little face.
Fortunately, he became happy again later.
His happiness all comes from one person, the Prime Minister Pei Zheng, who is known to others as cruel, violent and ruthless.
He never called him Lord Pei, he called him Brother Pei.
His brother Pei was sometimes very nice, and he could hide in his arms and act like a spoiled child, but most of the time, he was not that nice.
But it doesn't matter. After being bullied and neglected for a long time, a little bit of warmth can make him fall deeply into it and unable to extricate himself, not to mention that the kindness Brother Pei has shown him is worth more than anything else.
What happened next
Later, this little bit of happiness disappeared...
The carriage turned a corner and the imperial city disappeared from sight.
The wind was strong outside, causing Qi Changyi to shiver constantly, and his eyes gradually became sore.
He lowered the curtain, lowered his head and sobbed softly.
"Changyi, take a nap if you're tired. By dawn, we will be almost completely out of the control of the Imperial Capital." Zhao Litang said.
The little guy didn't move, his shoulders were shaking. After a long while, he raised his head, his eyes were red, and it was obvious that he was trying hard to hold back tears.
"Brother Tang, where are we going?"
"Go to the frontier, go to a place far, far away, go to a place where no one can find you. No one there knows you, and no one bullies you or laughs at you. They will all treat you very well."
Zhao Litang held his cold little hand and said, "Just take good care of yourself and live a long life. Don't think about those messy things anymore, okay?"
Qi Changyi couldn't hold back the tears in the corners of his eyes and finally fell, one by one, heavily hitting his clothes.
He still held the broken lantern in his arms, and it was wrinkled from gripping it.
The carriage galloped all night and arrived at a small town far away from the imperial capital.
The driver found a secluded inn and took the two of them to stay there.
Zhao Litang first took Qi Changyi off the carriage, covered him with clothes, and then took him into the inn.
The boss booked the best guest room for the two of them, but the conditions were still limited and it was certainly incomparable to where Qi Changyi had lived before.
"Chang Yi, please make do here for now. We can't live in a nice place right now, as that would be too conspicuous..."
"Brother Tang." Qi Changyi called out, "This is already very good. I know that we have to be careful and not be discovered, right? This place is really good, and this bed is very soft and comfortable to sleep on. Thank you, Brother Tang."
Sometimes he is too sensible, so sensible that Zhao Litang even wonders if he never knows how to refuse or act coquettishly, or if he shows all those lively emotions to others
"Why are you thanking me? Have a good rest. I'll go out and take a look."
"good."
Qi Changyi closed the door, and the sadness on his face immediately showed without any concealment.
He slowly walked to the hard bed and lay down, placing the tattered lantern next to his pillow and pulling the quilt over to cover both himself and the lantern.
—I didn’t get a good rest after running around all night, and I felt sleepy already.
The little person under the quilt turned over, hugged the tattered lantern in his arms, and fell into a deep sleep with tears in the corners of his eyes.