In the middle of the night, the originally peaceful Yingzhou City suddenly became anxious. The streets were filled with officers and soldiers holding torches. The sound of eager footsteps spread everywhere, and the people were all in danger.
Two black figures carefully hid at the entrance of a certain alley. After observing for a while, they jumped up, stepped on the roof of a house, and finally landed in a small courtyard not far away.
"You are finally back!"
Hua Yuan'er, who was waiting around, saw that Tang Ji and Su Qing had returned safely. He was relieved and quickly greeted them: "How are you? Are you not injured? I heard there was a lot of commotion outside. Have you two been discovered?"
"It's okay." Tang Ji looked a little depressed, waved his hand, walked back to the front building, and quickly returned to his room.
Because his room faced the street on the side, he did not light a candle to avoid arousing suspicion, and changed out of his official uniform in the dark.
Soon after, the three of them gathered in Hua Yuan'er's room and sat around the round table. The candlestick on the table was half burned, and the condensed wax oil piled up into a hill. As Hua Yuan'er sighed, the candlelight swayed. After a few clicks: "What's wrong with you two? Let's talk about what happened. Didn't you see the old man named Shen?"
After hearing what he said, Tang Ji frowned slightly and looked at Su Qing: "Why are you so good at being exposed?"
The sadness on Su Qing's face did not diminish, but she had calmed down. Recalling the scene at that time, she said attentively: "Two cracks were cut out on the stone wall above the iron prison door. It was obviously done by a master, at least not In the middle stage of the master realm, someone is secretly causing trouble for us."
After hearing what he said, Tang Ji immediately reacted: "Are you talking about the person who issued the challenge to me?"
"It should be that the other party knows our whereabouts very well." After Su Qing finished speaking, he sighed again: "General Shen has made great achievements in war and served the country with loyalty. In the end, he did not die in battle, nor did he spend his old age in peace, but ended up like this. The ending, but we can’t collect his body for him yet.”
Hearing this, Hua Yuan'er, who had been sitting aside in confusion, exclaimed: "The person named Shen is dead?"
Tang Ji frowned and gritted his teeth: "I have already gone to the death row in person as agreed, and that guy still doesn't give up!"
Although he is angry now, he is even more curious about who is playing tricks on him behind his back!
After sitting quietly like this for a moment, Tang Jicai raised his hand and patted Su Qing on the shoulder: "General Shen will avenge him later. Now we still want to think about how to find the Yuling, take back the Tiger Talisman, and regain control of Yingzhou. The army will overthrow the King of Beidu."
Now, they finally have a target and are no longer headless flies!
Su Qing nodded slightly: "Tomorrow I will go to Yang Nian to find out where General Shen lives. As for the tiger talisman, I can only think of a solution later."
Tang Ji suddenly remembered something and asked: "By the way, what about the two official servants who followed us in? Have they seen our looks?"
"Don't worry, Yang Nian will take care of it." Su Qing replied calmly, sat down and chatted for a few more words, then said "Go to bed early" and turned to leave.
Hua Yuan'er yawned boredly: "If I had known, I would have gone with you!"
"The road ahead will be more difficult. If you want to endure hardship, you still have a chance." Tang Ji stood up slowly. The short few hours tonight made him feel tortured and exhausted physically and mentally. He planned to go back and take a good rest.
At the same time, in the palace of the Northern Capital.
What happened in the death row soon reached Li Wenquan's mouth. He was sitting in the back hall wearing a dark satin coat and a cloak. He just picked up the tea that the maid had brewed and put it down again, looking at the man kneeling in front of him. Zhou Huan said in a deep voice: "Who asked you to kill Shen Chonglin?"
Zhou Huan swallowed his saliva and licked his lips: "Prince Qi, Shen Chonglin has gone crazy. If my subordinates don't order him to be killed, hundreds of soldiers may die in his hands."
"Don't think that I don't know what you're thinking!" Li Wenquan glared at him with a deep look. Zhou Huan was so frightened that he quickly lowered his head, then took a deep breath and continued: "We will discuss this matter later. Were the escaped assassins caught?"
Zhou Huan pursed her lips and replied hesitantly: "No, no."
"Bang!"
Li Wenquan raised his hand and patted the table: "Then why are you still kneeling here? Are you waiting for me to catch you personally?"
"Yes, I will take people to search for you now!" Zhou Huan answered hurriedly, then quickly stood up and retreated out of the hall.
Looking at his retreating figure, Li Wenquan murmured: "Trash!"
At this moment, an old man with gray hair on his temples but a very rosy complexion walked in from the side door unhurriedly, clasped his fists and said: "Your Majesty, I can confirm that the slash marks on the high wall of the death cell were made by masters. And that person’s strength should be higher than Lao Chan’s.”
Hearing this, Li Wenquan's eyes widened: "Is it stronger than Mr. Ke?"
"Not bad." Ke Qiu nodded affirmatively.
"Could it be that the imperial court sent someone here? No, if someone from the imperial court should deal with me first, who are they? Could it be that those from the Holy Alliance are back..." Li Wenquan was nervous. He began to guess that the strongest person under him at present is Ke Qiu, whose strength has reached the half-step master level, but it is still not enough. If the Holy Alliance hadn't protected him before, maybe Su Ling would have led people into Yingzhou long ago!
Seeing his sad look, Ke Qiu quickly comforted him: "My lord, don't worry. Although the other party is very strong, I am still confident that I can protect you."
"Thank you, Mr. Ke!" Li Wenquan bowed his hand slightly, but his worry did not diminish. After thinking carefully, he immediately ordered Liu Qicai who was standing next to him: "Send the order to withdraw 5,000 troops from Dingzhou and strengthen the camp. State Guards, as well as the news of Shen Chonglin’s death and what happened in the county government tonight are strictly prohibited from spreading outside the news, and those who disobey the order will be killed without mercy!”
"Yes!" Liu Qicai replied with his hands in hand and quickly retreated.
...
In the next two days, the city's defenses became even tighter. Even during the day, there were soldiers patrolling the streets. Anyone who was sneaky would be arrested, and those who dared to resist would be executed on the spot, which scared the people. I didn't dare to go out casually, and it wasn't until the third day that I calmed down a bit.
On North Street, Tang Ji, Su Qing, Hua Yuan'er and Cheng Tie, who have been fooling around recently, walked together in pairs.
Hua Yuan'er just walked around for several streets before finding a steamed bun shop. He took a bite of the hot steamed buns, chewed them and said, "By the way, Xiao Tang, my adoptive father asked me to tell you that this has been delayed for two days. Li Wenquan's Fat Pig asked his adoptive father to take his brothers out of Yingzhou the day after tomorrow, have you thought of a way to stay?"
Tang Ji shook his head. He had been thinking about how to steal the Tiger Talisman for the past two days, but had ignored it. However, seeing Li Wenquan's attitude towards him three days ago, he probably wouldn't let him leave easily. Thinking of this , he planned to go to the Beidu Palace to test it out again later, but suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Su Qing beside him: "By the way, Lao Su, didn't you go to find General Shen's residence last night? What was the result? "
Su Qing obviously didn't have a good rest. His eyes were red and swollen, and he shook his head: "There are too many soldiers patrolling at night, so it is difficult to move. However, I have learned the approximate location from Yang Nian, and it will not be too late to go there in a few days."
"By the way, has Yang Nian been found out? What happened to the two official servants?" Tang Ji turned his head and asked in a low voice.
Su Qing turned around and looked around, and then said: "It was he who arranged for us to enter the death row. If something happens, we will definitely be investigated. Fortunately, he was smart and left first. As for the two official servants... he killed them
Yes, but this is also a helpless move.”
Tang Ji was a little upset after hearing this. The two officials helped them, but ended up losing their lives. However, he also knew that his mother's heart should not be overflowing at this time: "If we can find out their identities after the incident, we will
Give their families some compensation."
"Okay, let's divide the troops into two groups. You and Lao Cheng will continue to wander around. Master Hua and I will go to the Beidu Palace to see if there is any way to stay."
But as soon as he finished speaking, a cry came from behind him: "Young Master Tang, Young Master Tang!"
Tang Ji blinked and turned around with some doubts. Only then did he realize that it was the maid who was following Li Yushu. Seeing her approaching, he asked doubtfully: "Is something wrong?"
"Why did you come out so early? I've been waiting outside the inn for a long time." Yu'er panted and complained twice. When she raised her eyes, she found four grown men staring at her. She quickly showed sadness and cried.
He said: "Mr. Tang, the princess is in danger, please go and save her!"
Tang Ji was speechless. This pretense was too fake!