Towards evening, the sky was overcast.
The imperial army got off the horse first, and handed the passage documents to the post official of the local post. Knowing that it was an official returning to Beijing, the post official came out to greet him in person.
"Our rooms here have been cleaned, and the hot water is still burning. You rest first, and the food will be ready soon."
Although it is said that Shi Qing was only a sixth-rank censor, it is different if he is named as an imperial envoy, not to mention that he is a Beijing official and not a local official.
Although the post officer can't be said to be deliberately ingratiating, he must be careful in serving him.
Shi Qing didn't have any official airs, and made an official ceremony with the post officer to express his gratitude.
Yun Zhi and the leader of the Imperial Forest Army looked around the posthouse, while the Imperial Forest Army inspected the posthouse up and down, and found nothing abnormal, not even a familiar face.
Even the servants serving inside have lived here for several years.
"Perhaps you are paranoid?"
In Shiqing's room, the leader of Yulin sat aside and frowned slightly.
Shi Qing poured a cup of tea and handed it to her, "What's the rush, the other party knows that I'm bringing someone with me, so they definitely won't act rashly, and just wait."
She had endured it in the county for a long time, and it didn't make sense that she couldn't help but do it as soon as she set off.
Mihe came in from the outside and heard a few people talking, his eyes lit up and he thought of something, "Is there any disguise?"
Mihe looked at Shi Qing, "You forgot, during the spring hunting last time, there was a guard in the Sun Mansion who disguised himself and knocked me out, and then did tricks in the tea to frame you and the second miss of the Qian family."
The leader of the Imperial Forest Army had a serious look on his face. He drank the tea in one gulp, put down the teacup and stood up, "I'll check it again."
They are in the light, and the other is in the dark, so they are really passive.
Especially when Shi Qing's errands have been completed, if they were killed on the way back to Beijing, it would be due to their lack of protection and dereliction of duty.
Seeing the leader of the Imperial Forest Army going out, Mihe followed out habitually, and when he was almost at the door, he patted his head and remembered what he was going to do when he came in.
She walked to the closet and took out the clean thin quilt inside, "Little master, add an extra quilt tonight, it's windy and rainy outside."
Now it is the end of May and the beginning of June, it has already entered summer, and there is more rain.
Heavy rain like this is common in summer, otherwise there would be no floods.
After dinner and a simple wash, Shi Qing and Yun Zhi got ready for bed.
The raindrops were falling outside, dense and powerful, and it was particularly helpful to sleep.
Yun Zhi couldn't sleep, so he turned his head and asked Shi Qing, "Do you think they will do it tonight?"
Although the wound left by the river last time has healed, the scars are still there. The group of men in black, especially the guard who can use dark darts, always needs to be careful.
There was no one around to respond, Yun Zhi leaned over to look, thinking that Shi Qing was asleep, but she suddenly grabbed the skirt of his shirt and pulled it down for a deep kiss.
Yun Zhi was caught off guard, and could only support the sides of her head with his hands, so as not to let himself be completely pressed in her arms.
"No." Shi Qing's eyes were clear, without any sleepiness.
If she was the other party, she would wait a little longer, wait for a surprise, and wait for the other party to relax her vigilance.
After all, the strength of the enemy and the enemy are not much different. If you fail again, you will have no next chance, so you must be cautious.
Yun Zhi felt relieved.
Shi Qing issued an invitation, "Young Xia, are you coming?"
"I'm coming?" Yun Zhi suddenly realized that he was on the top now, and his heart was about to move.
Shi Qing smiled slightly, and stretched out his hand to scratch the itchy flesh on his waist, "This matter depends on each person's ability."
With the sound of the rain, even if something happened to the two of them in the room, no one could hear it.
As for the coldness that Mihe mentioned, it doesn't exist at all.
One night of heavy rain, safe and sound.
After breakfast in the morning, Shi Qing and the others continued their journey in the fresh air.
I walked like this for about ten days, not to mention encountering an assassin on the road, not even a robber or a thief.
The official way is really peaceful.
The leader of the Imperial Forest Army was not used to it, and Yun Zhi felt strange holding his chin.
There are still two or three days to go before arriving in the capital. Could it be that the other party is so arrogant that he wants to kill Shi Qing in public at the gate of the city
Shi Qing's eyes twitched, "What's wrong with you guys!"
She pointed at the two of them.
The leader of the Imperial Forest Army rarely showed a smile, "If no one comes, the group of my subordinates will be so idle that weeds will soon grow."
A person's level of tension is limited. After a certain period of time, he will start to numb and relax, and he will regain his energy when the day when he returns to Beijing is approaching.
Not to mention his subordinates, even the leader of the Imperial Forest Army himself was a little slack.
Shi Qing clicked his tongue.
"It's probably only these two days."
Shi Qing nibbled on the melon seeds and said, "If she doesn't come, I will look down on her."
"Who are you talking about, my lord?"
The carriage stopped, and a familiar voice came from the window.
Shi Qing raised his head to look at Yun Zhi suspiciously, "Did I misunderstand by eating too many melon seeds, why did I hear Li Mao's voice?"
The word "Li Mao" is said quickly, and it is extremely easy to be heard as a "green hat".
With such a metaphor from Shi Qing, Yun Zhi immediately remembered who the other party was.
He stretched out his hand to lift the curtain of the car and looked down, just in time to see Li Yunqing's slightly smiling face.
Yun Zhi lowered the curtain again, and assured Shi Qing, "You heard me right, it's her."
"..."
Li Yunqing watched the car curtain go up and down, the end of his eyes couldn't help twitching, and the smirk on his face almost couldn't hold on.
She took a deep breath and raised her voice and said: "My minister Li Yunqing, I have been waiting here for a long time in advance to welcome Mr. Shi back to Beijing."
There was a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.
For a petty official like Shiqing to let her come to greet her in person, she would be ashamed.
"It's really Master Li."
Shi Qing leaned out from the car window, still holding melon seeds in his hand, and asked as he gnawed, "How long have you been waiting? Master Li dislikes my horse for being slow, and wants to pay me for two high-quality horses? "
"You are very polite, but since you have offered to express, I can't refuse, so how can you not give me face for Aunt Li?"
Shi Qingxiao was very enthusiastic, as if seeing his own family, "I don't want that kind of expensive one either, you just get me two snow-riding crows for a token."
She said: "We don't want this horse to be expensive, we just like its glossy black body."
"..."
From the moment Li Yunqing saw Shi Qing leaning out, his right eyelid started to twitch.
She was really willing to speak!
There are thousands of taels of snow-treading crows, and she wants two of them with one mouth!
The case of County Magistrate Cao is still under investigation, and there is no sufficient evidence to prove that Li Yunqing is the person behind it, so Li Yunqing, who works in the Ministry of Rites, came to welcome Shiqing back to Beijing this time.
With Shi Qing's status and rank, this honor is the first one.
For the sake of the epidemic prevention and flood prevention document written by Shi Qing, the emperor asked Li Yunqing to pick her up and return to Beijing to show his respect for the special commendation.
Li Yunqing smiled, "Your Majesty has such a big appetite."
Shi Qing nodded, "That's right, you can only eat it if you have a good appetite."
She leaned forward and stretched out her hand, and handed the melon seeds in her palm to Li Yunqing, "Have some?"
Yun Zhi in the car was afraid that she would fall, so he put his hand on her lower back.
Li Yunqing didn't dare to eat what Shiqing gave, and refused, "Don't dare, my lord, it's better to leave quickly, let's go back to Beijing as soon as possible and return to our orders."
Shi Qing glanced at her with profound meaning, "Don't talk so grandly."
Li Yunqing's eyes flashed, his face tightened.
Shi Qing looked at her face, smiled and finished the second half of the sentence, "You're just stingy, you just can't bear to part with those two horses."
Li Yunqing heaved a sigh of relief in his heart, and said with the corners of his mouth: "I have paid off the debt owed by the treasury, and there is really no spare money in the mansion. You should be clear about it, my lord."
She almost sold all the valuable calligraphy, paintings and antiques at home, and it was all thanks to Shi Qing.
After the two "friendly" exchanged their feelings, Shi Qing sat back in the carriage, and Li Yunqing also got into the carriage and drove forward with her.
It's not a secret that Shi Qing participated in Li Yunqing, and Li Yunqing must know about it.
And whether Li Yunqing really sent a letter to County Magistrate Cao to kill Shiqing, she knew in her heart.
It's just that the surface didn't tear the face.
Shi Qing licked the melon seeds and whispered to Yun Zhi, "The fish is here."
Yun paused for a while with his hand wiping the gemstone.
I'm afraid it's a bit difficult to rush back to the capital today, there is a post station ahead, so I simply rest for one night before going on my way.
Getting off the carriage, Li Yunqing seemed to remember something, and said to Shi Qing, "I haven't had time to thank Mr. Shi."
"After you suppressed the bandits last time, you revealed that your house was my daughter Li Zi. During this time, people always threw it at my door..."
Throw shit!
The last word was not elegant enough, and Li Yunqing couldn't say it, "Even when I go out with Li Zi, I always encounter this kind of situation."
Bandits always have close friends and relatives who are not capable enough to rob prisons, so they do such disgusting things.
Mentioning this, Li Yunqing's expression turned ugly.
In the end, she sent someone to guard the door to prevent this from happening again.
Li Yunqing also appealed to the emperor because of this matter, but the emperor blocked her back with a flirtatious sentence, "Shiqing is young and loves to play around, and I will definitely say something about her later".
In those few days, the gates of the Li Mansion were full of people holding their noses to watch the excitement.
Shi Qing didn't expect this at all, but it didn't prevent her from pretending to be stupid, "What else?"
"They may be grateful to you, and specially sent fertilizer to water and fertilize your flowers."
Li Yunqing, "..."
This gratitude is for Shifu, do you want it
Shi Qing definitely won't.
"Your Majesty has seen the adults."
The two adults will stay overnight, and the local post office officer will come out to greet them.
She looked to be in her forties, a little hunchbacked, bowing her waist to salute Shi Qing and Li Yunqing.
"No." Li Yunqing put on airs, "Is the room ready?"
The post officer bowed his chest and said, "If you go back to your lord, everything is ready."
As usual, the leader of the imperial forest army led people to inspect the posthouse. The postman looked back puzzledly, and even Li Yunqing followed suit.
"When I was young, I also knew that I made a lot of enemies, so I acted very cautiously," Li Yunqing said to Shi Qing as he walked in, "If you call me aunt today, then I will advise you as an elder, don't worry about everything. If the limelight is exhausted, it is easy to attract trouble."
Shi Qing raised his voice and said "Oh", "Since you kindly persuaded me—"
She laughs, "But I choose not to listen."
Shi Qing picked up the lampstand on the table and said to Li Yunqing, "Master Li, I am this oil lamp, and the trouble is only that moth, anyone who wants to seek death will come."
Shi Qing glanced at the postman behind him from the corner of his eyes, and the other party immediately lowered his head, as if he didn't dare to meet her gaze.
"There is too little oil, add a little more."
Shi Qing took two steps and handed the lamp stand to the postman behind him.
The post officer was slightly stunned, and stretched out his hands to take it, "Yes."
The Imperial Forest Army was not by Shi Qing's side at the moment, only Yun Zhi was standing one step behind her holding his sword.
The post officer raised his eyes to look at Shi Qing, his eyes were deep and dark.
She followed Shi Qing all the way, but she didn't find a good time to make a move.
Today is her last chance. After tonight, if Shiqing returns to Beijing early tomorrow, it will be difficult to do it.
The new master rescued her in order to get rid of this person in front of him.
What's more, she has a grudge against Shi Qingben.
When she looked up at Shi Qing, she didn't see that the lamp stand that Shi Qing handed over was slightly tilted, and the lamp oil inside spilled out and dripped on the mouth of the post official.
The post officer lowered his head subconsciously.
Taking advantage of this moment, Shi Qing quickly reached out and tore off the fake skin from the post officer's face.
The disguise was lifted, revealing Sun Da's hostile face.
Li Yunqing didn't seem to react, pointing at Sun Da, "This--"
Shi Qing quickly took two steps back, Yun Zhi had a perfect understanding with her.
She steps back, he moves forward.
Shi Qing stood behind Yun Zhi, shook the fake skin on his hand and sneered, "Xiao Mian, I don't know you anymore with a human skin on?"
When getting out of the car, when Sun Da pretended to be a postman and bowed his hands to her, Shi Qing took another look.
Her rough hands were not like those of a literati.
That's why Shi Qing used the lampstand to test, because he was afraid of wronging people.
Seeing that her identity was exposed, Sun Da didn't bother to continue pretending. She straightened her back, threw the lampstand on the ground, and pulled out the dagger from the sleeve, "So what if you recognize me, aren't you going to die here today?"
Shi Qing vaguely heard the sound of fighting outside, presumably it was when the Imperial Forest Army discovered something was wrong during their inspection and fought with each other in the yard.
Sun Da stared heavily at Shi Qing who was behind Yun Zhi, "Today we will settle the old and new grudges together!"