Wu Du and Duan Ling were relatively silent for a moment.
"I want to go take a look." Duan Ling said suddenly.
"Where to see it?" Wu Du replied, "With such a heavy snowfall, they might have already arrived in Huaiyin."
For some reason, Duan Ling felt a strong sense of insecurity, just like when his father left Shangjing, he always felt uneasy. However, with Zheng Yan there and the Yecheng army escorting him, the road from Yecheng back to Jiangzhou was always on the official road. It is one of the safest roads in the north.
After Lingshui is Huaiyin, and then southeast is the Yangtze River, so nothing will happen.
"Okay." Duan Ling admitted that if he was concerned, he would be confused, and he had to think about it carefully. The two were sitting in the room watching the snow, when Wu Du suddenly asked again, "Do you suspect that Mu Kuangda wants to assassinate?"
"Well..." Duan Ling analyzed, "Let's not say whether he has this motive, do you think it is possible?"
"He doesn't have so many people." Wu Du replied, "The film team won't listen to his dispatch. The Shepherd's family has never had private soldiers. How can they assassinate?"
"But where did Changliu-Jun go?" Duan Ling asked.
"Who knows? Maybe it's stalking." Wu Du said, "What's the harm in letting him know? This time, when you go back, you don't have to hide it from them. Then again, what did Mu Kuangda do to kill him?"
"Shepherd Prime Minister wants to determine whose hands the long-term employment falls into." Duan Ling said, "If it falls into Cai Yan's hands, Cai Yan will use the long-term employment to deal with him, as long as my fourth uncle returns to the capital, The shepherd will happen, won't it?"
"But now no one knows the whereabouts of Changpin." Wu Du replied, "I guess he was probably killed by Wuluohoumu. Look at Wuluohoumu, who is mysterious and doesn't say anything. , If you say there is no ghost in your heart, who will believe it?"
"Did he say anything else?" Duan Ling asked again.
Wu Du slowly shook his head, walked a few steps in the room, and suddenly said, "In the end, he said something, a dog will jump over the wall in a hurry, I don't know who he is talking about."
"Cai Gou?" Duan Ling's heart immediately raised, "Or the shepherd?"
Wu Du frowned.
"Let's talk about Changpin first." Duan Ling continued, "Changpin didn't return to Jiangzhou, and it wouldn't have fallen into the hands of the fourth uncle, otherwise he would have already said it. If Changpin was still alive, the person who caught him would either be Yao Fu, or someone from the film team."
"It won't be Yao Fu." Wu Du said, "At that time, outside Luoyan City, only Zheng Yan might belong to their camp."
"Then there are only two possibilities." Duan Ling said, "One is that Changpin was killed by Lang Junxia, and the other is that he was brought back by the shadow team."
"Do you think Mu Kuangda thinks so?" Wu Du frowned.
"There are only these two possibilities." Duan Ling said, "As long as you listen to Changliu-jun's analysis, you will definitely be able to draw the same two inferences as mine."
Duan Ling really understood Mu Kuangda's thinking too well, he said to Wu Du: "He must have deduced that, first assuming that the long-term employment was brought back to Jiangzhou by the shadow team and fell into the hands of Cai Yan, then Cai Yan would know There are two things, one is that the minister wants to rebel, and Changpin knows quite a lot of details. The other is that the minister already knows that Cai Yan is fake.
"Yes." Wu Du said, "This is equivalent to forcing Mu Kuangda to act in advance."
Duan Ling frowned deeply, thought for a while, and said, "Because the secret is in the hands of Donggong, he can only go the way of assassination. My fourth uncle is not in Jiangzhou. This is the best chance."
Wu Du asked again: "But are you sure that after Cai Yan is caught, the long-term recruit will be recruited? Even if he recruits details, the fake will never dare to let His Majesty examine the long-term recruit. Because one recruit is all recruits, fakes Your own identity will also be affected.”
"Yeah." Duan Ling nodded slowly and replied, "If I were Cai Gou, I wouldn't cause trouble for myself, so... We have a second possibility. What if Changpin was killed by Lang Junxia? Lang Junxia knows Taking Changpin back will only cause trouble for himself, neither killing him, nor letting him go. So he simply got rid of him, and Mu Kuangda would be suspicious. He thought Changpin had fallen into the hands of Donggong."
Duan Ling couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine: "Lang Junxia is forcing Mu Xiang to do it! This chess move is too beautiful! If you kill Changpin, as long as you don't say anything, Mu Xiang will be suspicious and have trouble sleeping and eating, so he starts his game ahead of schedule. Plan. But Lang Junxia's plan was disrupted by us! Your Majesty has come to Yecheng, not Jiangzhou, this is precisely the best chance for the minister!"
As long as Mu Kuangda has enough manpower, and let Changliu-Jun stumble over Zheng Yan, it is very likely that Li Yanqiu will be successfully assassinated on the way. As long as Li Yanqiu is dead, and Lang Junxia is captured and confronted with Qian Qi in court, he will be able to shake the position of the prince!
This is a desperate move. If it succeeds, the one who will benefit the most is Mu Kuangda!
Wu Du frowned and said, "But it is absolutely impossible for you to assassinate Your Majesty with only Lord Changliu. Mu Kuangda has no other subordinates who can act as assassins except Lord Changliu. He should have come with two messengers, no Take someone else with you."
Duan Ling was silent, frowned deeply, and said, "Are you sure that Mu Xiang really has no other assassins?"
"Mu Kuang has power over the court and the opposition." Wu Du said, "Do you think the court really doesn't fear him? He is very smart. The Mu family has never raised many disciples, so he won't cause your grandfather's fear. If he is in the capital If you raise a private soldier, will Xie You ignore him?"
"Did you not have it when you were in Xichuan?" Duan Ling asked.
"No." Wu Du said, "Although there are many people in the Mufu, there are no private soldiers or assassins, as you can see."
"What if he was raised elsewhere?" Duan Ling assumed, "Never use it?"
"He was born in the Xichuan nobility." Wu Du replied, "As an official for so many years, the court knows him well. There are no locals, and it is impossible to have them in other places. Assassins need to be trained by special personnel. On the land of Dachen, there are no assassins. The organization can hide from the eyes of Baihutang..."
When Wu Du said this, he suddenly seemed to think of something, his face changed in an instant, and he turned around and rushed out the door.
"Wait! Wu Du!" Duan Ling hurriedly chased out.
"Wait here." Wu Du said.
Duan Ling said, "What did you think of?"
Wu Du rushed into the stables like a gust of wind, but Ben Xiao had already given it to Li Yanqiu, and immediately chose the best horse. He led the horse, and for a short while, Duan Ling ran over and pulled the reins.
"Do you know that the shepherd also raised assassins? Isn't it?" Duan Ling asked anxiously, "Who is it?"
Wu Du stared blankly at Duan Ling, Duan Ling said anxiously: "Order troops! Take everyone out! Go now! Listen to me!"
The prefect's mansion all moved in an instant, Duan Ling ran across the hall and called out Shuluduan. Shuluduan was chatting with Fei Hongde, staggered into his boots, and chased after him.
Fei Hongde said, "Where are you going, my lord?"
"I don't have time to explain." Duan Ling whispered to Fei Hongde, "I have to go out for one hundred thousand urgent matters. During this time, Mr. Yecheng is in full custody."
Duan Ling stuffed the prefect's personal seal and his private seal into Fei Hongde's hands. When he left the house, Shuluduan had already led the horse, Duan Ling put on a leather armor, turned on his horse, and Wu Du quickly chased after him.
"You can't go!" Wu Du shouted, "It's too dangerous!"
"Where are you, I'll be there." Duan Ling replied, "Send all the soldiers of Yecheng out."
Wu Du was silent for a moment, and Duan Ling handed him the helmet. Wu Du changed his mind, put on the helmet, and shouted, "Light the beacon! Tell Hejian to come to help!"
This was the first time the beacon was set up after winter, but Duan Ling never expected it to be under such circumstances. Wu Du and Duan Ling split up to the east and west camps in the city, galloped on horses, called out all the soldiers in the camp, and ordered people to rush to Hejian along the beacon road. Go south along the official road.
Between the sky and the earth, goose-feather snow was flying, and the setting sun behind the dark clouds sank into the mountains, dyeing the thick clouds with a blood-like light.
Li Yanqiu's team encountered a heavy snow that was rare in a century, and temporarily stayed at the post at the foot of Dingjun Mountain. The wind and snow were so strong that a layer of ice formed on the Canghe River. After the wind and snow stopped, the Canghe River was sealed with thick ice before crossing the river from the ice. After crossing the river and passing through the eastern end of the Yuheng Mountains, it is Huaiyin.
The inn is crowded with passers-by who come from the south to the north, some from Hebei, and some from the north to go home to prepare for the Chinese New Year. There are more than ten braziers in the inn, and the pedestrians who stay here each occupy a small area, drinking and drinking. , chatting chatter, all waiting for the snow to pass, so that they can continue their journey.
"Master." Zheng Yan walked around behind the screen, put the food box in front of Li Yanqiu, and said, "I can't walk on the river surface yet, the ice is too thin."
Li Yanqiu didn't expect that he was actually blocked in this place. As the emperor, he could not defy the will of God.
"Drink some bars." Li Yanqiu said to Zheng Yan, "You must have been very suffocated by not drinking any alcohol along the way."
"Go to Huaiyin and drink again." Zheng Yan replied, "There is only a knife to burn, and people to burn in the throat."
Zheng Yan was always vigilant along the way and did not dare to drink, for fear of making a mistake. Although Li Yanqiu was often pressed against each other on weekdays, at critical moments, the master and servant were very tacit understanding.
"Where's the person following?" Li Yanqiu asked.
"It's all settled down." Zheng Yan replied.
More than 200 people, just eating, drinking and camping, is not a no-brainer. Duan Ling was afraid that Li Yanqiu would be in danger, so he sent Yecheng troops to follow. Zheng Yan asked them to temporarily camp in the abandoned homestay behind the inn, and cut down trees to make a fire. Allocate manpower to patrol outside.
In the past, the merchants knew that there was an official behind the screen, and they did not dare to disturb him when he spoke. Fortunately, the master and servant were not difficult to get along with. They lived for two days and said very little. Someone wanted to flatter a few words, and sent wine in, but Zheng Yan withdrew and thanked him nicely.
As a result, the guests in the inn all speculated that this person may be a foreign official who returned to Beijing, or a county magistrate who went to visit the Marquis of Huaiyin. The Yecheng Army patrolling outside managed it very well and did not disturb the people. The standard armor was recognized, and people were talking about it.