Two ships were sailing one after the other.
The Seventh Prince, along with Hu Da and three attendants, escorted Murong Jie, with four others following behind. At the beginning of the day, there were no dangers.
The boatman is hired, so he is also the one who prepares meals on the boat.
The boatman was a dark and solid man, about thirty years old, and an honest man. Noting the strange atmosphere on the boat, he didn't dare to say much. He just sailed when he should sail and cooked when he should cook.
Going downstream, you have to walk a distance on land, then detour to the Xijiang River and take a boat downstream.
Therefore, this section only took two days of sailing, and because everything was peaceful, the Seventh Prince relaxed his vigilance towards Murong Jie.
After getting ashore, he specially found a doctor for Murong Jie and prescribed some medicine for his injuries.
Murong Jie's injuries recurred while on the boat, and he even had a high fever, which was caused by wound infection.
He kept inflicting more minor wounds on Murong Jie, but he also treated his sword and arrow wounds to prevent him from dying on the road.
After the medicine was prescribed, he got on the carriage and continued on his journey.
The Seventh Prince was not in a hurry at all and walked slowly on the road. For him, arriving late was always better than arriving early.
His idea was the same as King Nan Huai's, that he had to wait for those who were chasing to the Southern Kingdom to disperse first.
He wasn't stupid enough to bump into it.
The Tonggong only has so many people, and even though they control Murong Jie, they cannot take these risks.
Murong Jie's injuries gradually healed. Although he still could not move freely, he was much better than before.
He estimated that if he persisted for about a day, the poison would be completely eliminated.
So, he remained patient and did not get angry no matter how harsh words Hu Da said.
That night, we stayed in Zhaozhou.
Zhaozhou is a developed area with a prosperous economy due to its convenient transportation by land and water.
As before, they found a relatively remote inn, about three miles away from the busy street.
The waiter prepared some food and brought it up. Hu Da gave him a few coins as a tip and then asked, "Waiter, is this boat easy to hire?"
We will continue to travel by water tomorrow. Since the previous arrangements were not thorough, we did not hire a boat here in advance.
The waiter smiled and said, "Sir, is it difficult to hire a boat in Zhaozhou? No matter how big you want, we can hire one for you as long as you have enough silver."
"Okay, help me hire two small boats tomorrow," said Hu Da.
"Okay!" the waiter said happily. He would get rewarded for running errands for customers, and he was eager to run more errands.
The Seventh Prince frowned and said, "We can just hire a bigger one that can hold about ten people."
The waiter responded, "Young Master, we'll do whatever you say. There are boats with more than ten people, and there are boats with more than a hundred people."
The Seventh Prince winked at Hu Da, who understood and pulled the waiter out the door, "Brother Xiaoer, I want to ask you something. Have you had any guests from the capital recently?"
"From the capital?" The second brother said with a smile, "Of course there are guests from the capital every day."
"Have you ever seen this person?" Hu Da took out a scroll from his bag and opened it to show the waiter.
The waiter took a look and said quickly, "I have seen her, I have seen her, this lady is very pretty, I remember her clearly, she just left yesterday."
"Are you sure?" Hu Da narrowed his eyes.
"Of course I am sure. Although we have many guests coming and going here, this is the first time I have seen such a beautiful lady. She came with a girl in green clothes and seven or eight men."
"What are you wearing?" Hu Da pulled him away.
Murong Jie was in the room, with his head down, as if he didn't hear the conversation outside.
Indeed, if it weren't for his excellent hearing, he would never have been able to hear it. At least, the Seventh Prince and several other followers couldn't hear it.
Murong Jie knew that Hu Da was asking about Zi'an's whereabouts because he had accidentally seen a scroll in Hu Da's bag, and it was Zi'an.
According to the way they do things, if they only control themselves, they will definitely not feel at ease. If they can control themselves as well, they will not be afraid that he will not obey.
If Zi'an just left yesterday, it proves that my inference is correct, and Lao Ba also took the water route to the South.
According to the walking speed, it will take seven or eight days to reach the South Country, which is more than half as far as traveling by land.
Lao Ba must be going slowly, so if they hurry up, maybe they can catch up the day after tomorrow, and if he can get away, it will be even faster.
Nothing unexpected can happen tonight, because after tonight, the poison should be detoxified.
However, after dinner, the Seventh Prince brought in a bowl of water and said with a smile, "Uncle, it's time to drink some medicine."
Murong Jie had just drunk the medicine not long ago, so this was definitely not the medicine to treat his injuries.
He glanced at the transparent, colorless water. Medicine? Poison, probably.
The Seventh Prince smiled and said, "I know that my uncle has great inner strength, and the poison I gave him may have been neutralized. To be safe, please drink a little more. Don't worry, my nephew has controlled the dosage just right, and it will not harm my uncle's life."
Murong Jie took it, gathered his inner strength and pushed it again, but there was still some resistance.
However, if the medicine is not too strong, you can drink it first and force it out with internal force after a quarter of an hour, and it should be fine.
Thinking of this, he smiled indifferently, "Since you are worried, then I will drink some more."
"Uncle, you are so obedient. This way you won't have to suffer." The Seventh Prince played with the dagger in his hand and smiled innocently.
Murong Jie was really annoyed by the tone of his voice, but for now, he could only bear it.
He drank it in one gulp, and then used his inner strength to stop the venom from flowing.
"Go out now. I need to rest." Murong Jie handed him the bowl and said coldly.
The Seventh Prince smiled and said, "Okay, I won't disturb my uncle's rest."
He took the bowl and went out, closing the door behind him.
Murong Jie heard him order the people outside the door, "Watch closely."
"yes!"
There were at least three people answering the door.
Murong Jie crossed his legs and slowly closed his eyes.
The Seventh Prince's room was next to Murong Jie's. The soundproofing was not very good, so one could hear him talking to Hu Da, but the content of their conversation was a little vague.
Murong Jie didn't listen to them carefully, he was just focusing on detoxifying his luck.
The injury was always an obstacle. He tried his luck several times and the wound was almost bursting. He did not dare to be impatient. He induced vomiting to spit out the poison he had drunk before, and the remaining residue was slowly forced out with his internal force.
Someone was guarding the Seventh Prince's room. The weather was a little chilly, and the attendant was a little tired after days of traveling, so he propped up his hands and dozed off.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in from the window and blew out the tung oil lamp. The servant woke up alertly, and saw a black screen in front of his eyes and a sharp pain in his head. He fell to the ground with a groan.
The Seventh Prince woke up suddenly, opened his eyes, and saw an evil and crazy smiling face hanging above his head. He was startled and opened his mouth to shout, but a fist came at him coldly. His head tilted and he fainted.
When he woke up, he was already in the prison of the government office in Zhaozhou.
He was sent by Manager Sun, a wealthy man in Zhaozhou. He said that these thieves broke into his house and stole things, but were knocked unconscious on the ground by a passing knight. The stolen silver and jewelry were indeed found on their bodies.
One of them even appeared on the bed of a rich man's concubine, with his clothes in disarray and sleeping soundly.
Moreover, the roots of the tongues of all these people were plucked, which means they can no longer speak.
(End of this chapter)