In a small town that is still more than a month away from the royal city, three tall horses live in the post station at night. One of them was wrapped in a dirty cloak, and he was tall and tall. When he stood at the door, it almost filled the entire door frame, which made the legs of the waiter in the post station weak with fright.
"W-Who are you..." Xiao Er was afraid that this was a group of horse bandits, so he backed away a few steps tremblingly, "Today, there is no house left today..."
"Shut up!" The shopkeeper came quickly from behind, and glanced sharply at the badge on the waist of one of them. He knew that these people were not horse bandits and robbers, and immediately said respectfully, "Three guests, the Tongbu is gone. There are still a few rooms in the upper room."
The tall man's entire face was almost covered by the hood, only revealing a pair of sharp and sinister eyes, which seemed to be slightly gray in the dim light, making one feel horrified at a glance. The man's voice was low, as if he was swallowing the billowing sand, and said, "I want three upper rooms."
"Guest officer, please come inside!" The shopkeeper didn't dare to look more, bowed his head and humbly led the guests in.
The two people behind the tall man said harshly: "The horses outside are well taken care of, and the horses need to be fed with fresh grass."
"Yes, yes!" Xiao Er hurriedly ran out trembling all over.
The three people in this group are Qi Nanke and his party who came back from the frontier to report on their work. Of course, they will not be the only ones when they return to Wangcheng to report on their work. The beauties, gold and silver, and the book of surrender.
It was only halfway through the journey, when a secret envoy sent the emperor's oral order, asking Qi Nanke to go back and get married, and the other party was still a man. This stone stirred up waves, and the Qi family's confidantes who heard the news were all very angry, and they said they would go to the palace to seek justice. Qi Nanke sent a letter to his father on the same day, and his subordinates went back to the border overnight to give it to his father—Qi Guogong and Qi Lu.
Qi Nanke couldn't wait for his father's reply, so he summoned two confidant generals to follow him back to the king's city first, and first secretly found the Ninth Prince of Shu Shiguo to find out the ins and outs before doing other tricks.
The three of them were busy along the way, and they finally approached the royal city after running to the death of three horses. It was much faster than their original plan to return to the city. In order not to attract attention, all three of them covered their heads. It is impossible to calculate that they will rush back secretly.
Going upstairs and entering the room, one of the lieutenants pulled down his hood and said, "It's almost Yongge, what is the general going to do next?"
Qi Nanke took off his cloak, and the hood was pulled back to reveal sharp and thick black eyebrows and eyes. Living in the border all year round made his skin as rough as gravel. His complexion was dark, and there was an inconspicuous knife wound on the side of his face. With a terrifying aura of bloodthirsty, people dare not look directly at it.
"How's the investigation of Du Ci's matter going?" Qi Nanke asked.
"I received a letter today, it is said that Prince Du Jiu is no longer in Wangcheng."
"Is this running away?" Deputy General Xu smiled happily, "A prince would never want to marry a man! That's great!"
Qi Nanke frowned and said nothing, the two lieutenants looked at each other, a little puzzled: "General... what's wrong?"
"Du Ci was held hostage in Dasheng for several years. He is cheerful, lively and innocent. He is deeply loved by His Majesty and never complains about himself. He made friends with dudes in Dasheng and indulged in pleasure all day long. He has a great reputation in Wangcheng. How would such a person feel if he knew that he was going to be married by His Majesty, even if the other party was a man?"
"Ah?" Deputy General Xu scratched his head, and said naively, "Well, this subordinate doesn't know, the general thinks that the Ninth Prince can't escape?"
"Where can he escape?" Qi Nanke glanced at him, rubbing his thumb lightly on the index finger, which was his habitual action when thinking.
"He can't go back to the Kingdom of Shu. He will be caught if he escapes to other places." Deputy General Zhou, with a big beard and eyes like copper bells, said in a rough voice, "There is really no need to escape."
"Then..." Deputy General Xu lost his mind for a while, and was puzzled, "Then why is he not in Wangcheng? Can he disappear out of thin air?"
A light flashed in the depths of Qi Nanke's eyes, and he whispered: "Maybe, he is just like us."
"What?" Deputy General Xu was taken aback, and patted the table, "The general said he also wanted to come to us?!"
Qi Nanke's guess was good, but the process was slightly off.
Prince Du Jiu was very excited when he learned that the emperor was willing to grant a marriage, which meant that the two countries would live in peace for a long time. That night, he packed his luggage and slipped out of the royal city with his confidant, Douding. After traveling for more than a month, he lived in a small town In the station.
It was late at night, and Douding came back from the outside, wrapped his clothes and said tremblingly: "My lord, there are still people staying in the shop at this o'clock. I don't think those three people are good people. Let's go early tomorrow, my lord." let's go?"
Du Ci turned over on the bed, stroked a jade white piccolo with his fingers, and said lazily: "Where do you think Qi Nanke has gone at this time? What if we miss it?"
"Young master who doesn't know," Douding shrank into the floor bunk and looked up at his master on the bed. "They all go back to Wangcheng to report on their duties. They must follow the official path. There are so many people, we will definitely meet."
"En." Du Ci yawned, and glanced out in the darkness. The night outside the window was very dense, and occasionally the barking of dogs and horses could be heard in the distance. He held the piccolo tightly in his hand and said, "Tell me, does he still recognize me?"
Douding frowned, didn't know what to say, thought for a long time before saying: "Young master, you and the young master met once, and then he went to guard the border. It's been so many years... He may not remember you."
"You bastard!" Du Ci turned over and took a pillow next to him, and smashed it on the boy who was laying the floor, cursing half falsely, "He will definitely recognize me!"
"Yes!" Douding hurriedly got up and kowtowed, "Young master is so good-looking, the young master will recognize him of course!"
Du Ci snorted, and fell on the pillow sprawled out. After a moment of silence, the two people in the room became confused, but they heard the sound of a horse bleating outside the window, and one of them shouted: "The stable is flooded!"
Du Ci suddenly turned over and sat up, took off his coat and ran out the door barefoot. At the same time, the door directly opposite was pulled open forcefully, and a tall man looked over with frowning eyes.
The two sides looked at each other for a short moment, and looked away at the same time. Douding grabbed his clothes and rushed out to wrap Du Ci, calling: "My lord! Don't catch a cold!"
Douding, like Du Ci, has always been awkward in speaking official dialect after staying in Dasheng for several years. Now that he was in a hurry, he uttered the official dialect of Shu Shiguo.
Du Ci pulled his clothes, and with the orange fire not far away reflected in his eyes, he also said in the official language of Shu Shiguo: "Look at it! Hurry up! Don't burn our horses!"
The tall man on the opposite side had just taken two steps outside when he heard this and suddenly stopped.
He turned his head slowly, his eyes fixed on the young man standing barefoot on the porch.
when will the general marry me