Not long after, a large group of female guards protected Lu Xiu, Zhao Qiaoyun and the Yu sisters and hurried over. Behind them were two wet nurses holding Chen Qing's children.
Lu Xiu saw her husband wearing armor and holding a bow and arrow in his hand. She was a little frightened and said: "Husband, what happened?"
Chen Qing tried his best to smile and said in a calm tone: "I found two black spots in the lake. They may be water birds such as night herons. Just in case, everyone should sleep in the red building tonight!"
Lu Xiu knew as soon as she heard that her husband was talking nonsense. If it was a water bird, why would he be so nervous? He must have discovered the assassin. She didn't say anything, but turned around and said to everyone: "Let's go to the second floor!"
Zhao Qiaoyun stepped forward and said to Chen Qing: "Officer, please bring the master here too!"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "Don't worry! We have sent someone to pick her up, and she will be here soon."
Just as he was talking, two female guards hurried over with Li Qingzhao and her personal maid Chuntao.
"I'm just an old woman, no problem, you don't have to worry about me!"
Zhao Qiaoyun stepped forward and hugged Master, "Master, hurry up and go upstairs!"
"Hey! You're pregnant. You can't stay up late at night. Go to bed quickly."
Everyone went upstairs. Twenty female guards were deployed inside and outside the red building. Chen Qing also went up to the roof.
At this time, Yan Jun led hundreds of soldiers and several hounds into the backyard. They were divided into ten teams and conducted a thorough search of the entire garden. There were also several small boats on the water searching.
They searched all night and found no trace of the assassin, but there was actually a problem. The three female guards all saw two black spots in the sparkling light, but they did not find anything suspicious. Could it be that the black spots were really waterfowl?
Alarmed, he flew away.
At dawn, the soldiers finally discovered the situation, and Yan Jun came to report to Chen Qing.
"Reporting to the capital, the brothers found wet mud on the wall and a big tree in the northeast corner. It has not rained in Jingzhao for more than half a month. There is only one explanation for the wet mud. Someone crawled out of the water.
Judging from the distribution of the soil, there are indeed two people, and they should be the assassins."
Chen Qing didn't know that the people who wanted to assassinate him were not only Jin Kingdom, but also Xixia. But this was not important. What was important was how he responded? Especially how to protect the safety of his family.
"Do you think I should find a secret house outside to protect my family?" Chen Qing asked Yan Jun.
Yan Jun thought for a while and said: "There are many uncertain factors when looking for a house outside, especially the army cannot participate in protection. If you are discovered by assassins, it will be more dangerous. I suggest you go to the military camp, or there is another way."
"What other way?" Chen Qing didn't want to put his family members into the military camp. This would shake the morale of the army and cause unnecessary speculation among the soldiers.
"The humble position suggested that the family move to Qifeng Pavilion on the island. Qifeng Pavilion itself has a main building and four auxiliary buildings, which is enough for living. Then, patrol soldiers and mastiffs are deployed around it. Assassins will also be discovered when they visit the island. More importantly,
Yes, it’s impossible for the assassins to come here a second time to find out. They don’t understand the situation on the island at all, so it’s not easy to assassinate him.”
This is a good way to go to the island. Living on the island, you can get food and daily needs by boat. More importantly, the layout of Qifeng Pavilion is relatively complicated. In military terms, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Soldiers and soldiers are deployed on the island and outside.
Mastiff, it is basically impossible for an assassin to come up and kill him.
"Your suggestion is very good, let's go to the island today!"
At dawn, Lu Xiu took everyone on a boat to the island. The island covers an area of about six or seven acres. It was originally a stone island, but it was covered with soil and planted with large grasslands. Various wild flowers were colorful and swaying. It is colorful and full of wild charm. Unfortunately, the soil is too shallow to plant big trees.
A six-story pavilion called Qifeng Pavilion was built in the middle of the island, surrounded by four auxiliary buildings and a tall courtyard wall.
Gu Xuan
The first floor of Qifeng Pavilion is a ten-foot-high granite base. A six-story wooden building is built on the base. There is an annex building on each side of the base. There is an air bridge on the east side of the annex building, connected to the base. This is the only way to enter Qifeng Tower. You must first enter the annex building before walking onto the granite base.
The area of Qifeng Building is not small. Each floor has three to four hundred square meters and more than twenty rooms, almost all of which are suites. Many rooms are connected by secret doors, which is very complicated.
In fact, Qifeng Pavilion is a place of refuge in the palace in case of emergencies. Even if the assassin is lucky enough to get to the island, successfully avoid the patrols of mastiffs and guards, and sneak into Qifeng Pavilion, he may not be able to find his target.
However, the assassin's real target, Chen Qing, still came to the official room on time. Although he had not slept all night last night, he was still in high spirits.
As soon as Chen Qing arrived at the palace, Wang Hao, the commander of the inner guards, rushed over. Yan Jun had already informed him of the abnormality in the inner chamber of the Xuanfu envoy last night, which shocked Wang Hao into a cold sweat.
Chen Qing smiled and waved his hand and asked, "Did your internal security spies find anything unusual in the northeast corner?"
"Reporting to the capital, the inner guard originally had three brothers at the northeast corner. Because Han Zhengfu was also responsible for monitoring Wanxi Restaurant and transferred some brothers, there was only one person left at the northeast corner. I went to the surveillance point early this morning to check. I found that there happened to be a corner over there that was difficult to monitor. If there were three people, they would definitely be able to see that they were trying to make up for it and continued to send more people."
Chen Qing was not satisfied with this answer. Han Zhengfu was obviously the commander of the ninth group, but he went to do the things of the first and second groups, which led to poor monitoring.
However, Chen Qing did not want to pursue the responsibility for the time being. He walked a few steps with his hands behind his hands: "Lin Jianqing asked me if I had a stand-in. Logically speaking, they would not act rashly until they got a clear answer. The abnormality last night was more like someone stepping on the spot. I suspect People from the Jin Kingdom are not the only ones who want to assassinate me."
Wang Hao was shocked, "Do you mean Dutong refers to Xixia?"
Chen Qing nodded, "Xixia has a tradition of assassination. At this critical moment, Xixia sent people to assassinate me and prevent the Western Army from attacking north. This is the normal way of thinking. Moreover, Jin soldiers do not need to come to attack the point. Xixia only needs it. You have to Relax the operation, not only to arrest the Jin Kingdom spies, but also to interrogate the Xixia spies, not only in Jingzhao City, but also in the counties surrounding Jingzhao City. In addition, Han Zhengfu is transferred back to monitor Wanxi Restaurant and let a group come up. "
Wang Hao was a little ashamed and said: "I didn't think carefully about my humble position, so I'll make arrangements now!"
Just as Wang Hao was about to leave, Chen Qing stopped him again, "Wait a moment before leaving."
Wang Hao stopped, and Chen Qing pondered for a moment and asked, "How about Zhong Huan's internal defense?"
"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, the young man is very good and very competent. It is thanks to him that we discovered the clues to the Jin Kingdom spies this time. He has made a great contribution. We are very satisfied with him from top to bottom."
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "How about you transfer him to me?"
Wang Hao jumped up immediately, "Du Tong, you can't be joking like this. I finally found a capable civil servant who was recommended by you. Now he has to leave. I can't explain my humble position to my subordinates!"
Seeing that he was sweating profusely with anxiety, Chen Qing couldn't help but laugh and said: "Then I won't poach your inner guards. Lend me a period of time and return to the inner guards after the battle of Xixia. How about that?"
Wang Hao breathed a sigh of relief, "Is it because he is a member of the Zhong family?"
Chen Qing nodded and took out an ultimatum, "This is the book he gave me. It's called Eighteen Strategies to Extinguish Xia. It's rare for me to read the whole text. It's very insightful and practical. I gained a lot. I
It is estimated that this is information left by his ancestors."
"The humble duty asks him to donate all the information left by his ancestors. If he can conquer Xixia, it will also be a consolation to the loyal Zhong family. He will definitely agree."
"I know he will agree, but I need to compensate him. Taking him to attack Xixia is more meaningful to his ancestors."
Wang Hao thought for a while and said: "Then I'll go talk to him, obey his wishes, and don't force him."
"Okay, I hope he will give me a copy of the information left by his ancestors as soon as possible, and he will keep the original as a souvenir."