On the mountain road in Qiliyu, Zhang Hongfan lowered his hand and observed the horse dung on the ground.
"The horse manure was just pulled out this morning. It should be the carriage that Tan Ma saw last night. He ran away as soon as he saw Tan Ma. It was probably Wang Xin..."
Originally, Zhang Hongfan did not want to hunt down Wang Xun and Hao Tianyi.
Trying to capture Hao Tianyi would be difficult to deal with. Killing him might make some people feel at risk, and keeping him might make some people think that it doesn't matter if he is captured.
Of course it would not be good to escape. But at least it can be said that "Hao Tianyi is a loser. He got lost in the war, was captured and surrendered, and wanted to conspire to take Shanxi for Li Xia. When he saw Zhang Jiulang coming, he ran away."
Since no matter what you do, it's not perfect, Zhang Hong doesn't bother to work hard anymore.
As soon as he arrived in Taiyuan, he scared away Hao Tianyi and successfully foiled Li Xia's conspiracy to secretly open up Shanxi through smuggling trade routes. For him personally, it was already a meritorious service and prestige.
But Zhang Hongfan noticed that it seemed that Mao Jujie helped Wang Xin escape.
He really doesn't want people like the Zhang family to be shaky in their stance.
In his view, hedging your bets is not a sure thing, but a recipe for disaster.
Therefore, Zhang Hongfan didn't say anything, but he still came to hunt down Wang Xin himself under the pretext of going to Jiezhou to meet Ahema.
He quickly found clues and chased him to this point...
After seeing the horse dung, he stood up, looked around the mountains and forests, calculated the distance that the horses could travel on such a road in two hours, and began to arrange manpower to search for them.
"You guys, go up to Wulong Gorge and look into the distance to see if there are any human figures moving around."
"You search southward, search carefully within a radius of twenty miles, they are probably hiding here..."
Compared with Hao Tianju's performance in searching and detailing in Taiyuan City, Zhang Hongfan seemed very relaxed. After finishing the arrangement, he sat cross-legged on a big stone and closed his eyes to rest.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for a soldier to come back and report: "Commander, they found a carriage on the mountain road to the south. They also had horses that were exhausted..."
Zhang Hongfan raised his head and looked at the sky, calculating to himself.
"Abandoned the carriage and left? We can't go very far. With our few manpower, it will probably take two days to search this forest, right?"
"Commander, if we search carefully, we will definitely find it."
"But you know this is not Wang Xun's plan to escape. He deliberately sent people to lure me away. In fact, he has already escaped."
"This... villain doesn't know."
"Take me to see their carriages and horses."
Zhang Hongfan just got up and saw a fast horse galloping from the official road outside the valley.
He had a premonition that there would be some important news, so he stopped and waited.
Soon I heard the messenger shouting to the soldiers at Yukou: "Is Marshal Zhang from Shuntian here? There is an urgent message from Taiyuan!"
"Let him come over."
"I've seen Zhang Shuai, something happened in Taiyuan!"
"..."
"Is Hao Tianju dead?" Zhang Hongfan murmured to himself, and looked at the mountains and forests to the south. Finally, he made a decision and said, "Go back to Taiyuan."
On this trip to Shanxi, his biggest responsibility is to ensure people's peace of mind.
The situation back in Taiyuan Town is now more important.
Another small reason is that, to him, Hao Tianju's death is very much like Wang Xun is still in Taiyuan City, so no matter whether it is or not, no one will think about whether Li Xia's meticulous work has been in Mao
Escaped from Taiyuan City with the help of Ju Jie.
~~
Wang Chengye looked out from the gap in the grass and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the soldiers finally retreating.
"gone?"
"gone."
"Why did you just leave?"
"I almost lost it in Zhang Hongfan's hands. He is such a good dog." Wang Xin cursed secretly, climbed out of the bushes, looked down the mountain, and said, "How do we go?"
"When the storm passes, we can contact the stronghold in Huozhou." Wang Chengye said: "As long as we don't encounter Zhang Hongfan again, I have the confidence to take you back to Guanzhong."
Wang Xun showed disdain and sneered: "Zhang Hongfan is not very powerful. If he were in Guanzhong, I would hunt him down and see if he could escape."
Wang Chengye thought for a while and said: "With our Military Intelligence Department here, we will not let Mongolian agents sneak into Guanzhong."
If Wang Xun was speaking harshly, Wang Chengye was speaking very sincerely.
After experiencing Zhang Hongfan's manhunt, the group became more cautious and hid in the mountains and forests of Qiliyu for another six days. Feeling that the limelight was gradually dying down, Wang Chengye just contacted the Military Intelligence Department stronghold in Huozhou, and the other party provided them with new identities and identities.
Talisman.
After waiting for another three days, they infiltrated a merchant group, but instead of heading south to Jiezhou, they headed northwest to Luliang Mountain.
After the merchants sold the horses and leather to the smuggling caravans near Luliang Mountain, they followed the smuggling caravans south along the Yellow River.
This journey was difficult and dangerous, and the smuggling caravans almost exchanged their lives for money, traveling along the cliff path and crossing the most turbulent section of the Yellow River.
"The four seasons of fog and rain obscure the mouth of the pot, and the waves on both sides of the strait shake the Mengmen."
At first, Wang Xun could still recite poems to show that he was not intimidated by the dangerous terrain, but gradually he also shut up.
After finally passing through waterfalls and canyons, they finally entered the land of Sanqin.
Hao Tianyi revisited his old place and felt complicated.
The last time he crossed the Yellow River was to lead his troops to attack Li Xia, but who would have thought that this time it was to defect to Li Xia.
But coming here alone, with an uncertain future, is ultimately unsettling.
Wang Xun felt frustrated again.
He forgot to think about it when he was running for his life, but the closer he got to Chang'an, the more he felt like a waste.
…
It was September 26th when we arrived at Chang'an City.
Entering the lobby of Prince Qin's Mansion, Wang Xuan looked at Li Xia, saluted, and even cried.
"Kings!"
Li Xia put down the official document in his hand and said, "Thank you for your hard work..."
"I am ashamed of myself, Your Majesty!" Wang Xun bowed deeply, but she really felt that she had not done her job well.
Li Xia still only calls himself king. Sometimes, although some of his subordinates call themselves subordinates, they are only used to express their stance. Most of the time, the conversation is in a casual tone.
Although Wang Xun usually looks arrogant, he is one of the few Li Xia's subordinates who treats Li Xia thoughtfully and loves to call himself his subordinate.
Because he looked down on the Song Dynasty the most, and because his father once told Li Fen that "Wang Fu was the master of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and he would be the minister of Xuan Ling."
Wang Wentong did not realize his ambition in Li Fen, but he, Wang Zhen, wanted to realize it in Li Xia.
Moreover, he is very crazy when doing things, and he has the intention of death at any time, so he should surrender earlier and enjoy the feeling of assisting the "Lord of the Tang Dynasty".
"On that day, the king personally went to Baqiao to see me off, and he had high hopes for me. I was supposed to secure Shanxi for the king, but my success failed..."
Li Xia was chattering away, but Li Xia seemed a little careless.
His eyes fell on the official documents on the table, and he didn't know if he was listening to Wang Xun's self-incriminating words.
With great difficulty, it was not until Wang Xun finished speaking that he considered it and gave a few words of encouragement.
"Don't be arrogant when you win, and don't be discouraged when you lose. I hope you will make some progress this time and understand where your shortcomings are. Go and have a good rest."
…
After that, Wang Chengye and Hao Tianyi went to see Li Xia one by one.
Wang Xun left the Prince of Qin's Mansion first.
He felt that Li Xia's treatment of him was a bit lenient, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Compared with before this trip, he is now more able to accept the helpless results and thinks about how to do better.
Perhaps this is what Li Xia just mentioned as "progress and benefit".
When they reached Hu Ji Noodle Shop, Wang Xun looked up and found that she was surrounded by several people.
He swept his eyes away and ignored the woman and the little Taoist priest beside him. He cupped his hands and saluted: "Young Master Li, you are polite."
"That's polite." Li Zhaocheng returned the courtesy, but he couldn't stand the small talk and quickly asked: "Where is Taoist Yu?"
Wang Xun was stunned for a moment before he remembered this matter. He sighed helplessly and said, "He must be dead..."