In the room, Xu Mu remained completely motionless, or even showed no expression at all.
Joining Toshiro is nothing more than to be the vanguard of the rebellion. If one day, Toshiro really succeeds, he may be granted the title of Little Marquis for the sake of his connections.
But there are too many factors that can change. To put it bluntly, Xu Mu does not want to leave his life and fortune in the hands of any one person.
Chang Silang was like this, and so was Yuan Tao.
"Okay, to overthrow the dynasty, I will recruit 100,000 refugees tomorrow, and ask Master Chang to provide food and grass!"
"You're stupid!" Chang Shiro was startled and cursed angrily, "It's like this every time. I really don't understand what you want to do."
"If you want to live, that's how it is from the beginning."
"It's true...it's rare for you to be able to look good now."
Chang Silang looked unwilling, "My dear boss, you really don't want to go? You have to know that if things get messy and something happens to Xiao Taotao, no one can protect you. Let me put it bluntly, you are only an army of ten thousand people.
After the Great Epoch collapses, you may not be able to escape."
"From the border to the inner city, does it mean that you are still willing to be yelled at?"
"If one day, I mean if one day, you and I have different opinions, we may become enemies."
"Young Master Chang, I know everything." Xu Mu remained calm, "Young Master Chang also mentioned that I was being chased by more than 20 officers and soldiers at that time, and I was unwilling to live under someone else's protection. I am even more unwilling now."
"A bit pedantic." Changshiro frowned slightly, "With your temper, unless you find a way out on your own, the boat will capsize sooner or later."
"Finally, I'll give you two thousand carts of grain. I think you've broken the bet of the four major households and don't come to Changjia Town again."
Changshiro sighed, grabbed the iron bow and walked out. As soon as he stepped over the gate post, he suddenly turned around.
"My little boss, I advise you to leave the inner city as soon as possible before the new year."
"Thank you, Master Chang."
Raising his head, Xu Mu looked at the figure walking into the wind and snow, and felt an unspeakable parting brewing in his chest.
"The world is in chaos, but my lord's choice was not wrong." After a long time, Jia Zhou walked over and stood slightly behind Xu Mu.
"Wenlong, I'm about to lose an old friend."
"I know."
Nodding, Xu Mu turned around, and could only vaguely hear the sound of Chang Silang's galloping horse, which gradually disappeared from his ears.
At the end of the Frost Month, there is only one month left before the New Year.
Xu Mu could already clearly feel the changes in the entire inner city.
The shopkeepers who ordered wine were already very rare. On the trail outside Horseshoe Lake, the sound of horse hooves could not be heard for a long time.
Occasionally, desperate refugees would brave the wind and snow and run to Horseshoe Lake, where they would kneel down and kowtow to beg for shelter.
"Those with families are given priority! Those who are young and strong are given priority!"
"If you behave out of line when entering the village, you will be expelled from the village immediately!" Chen Sheng and Heifu kept walking back and forth among the refugees who were fleeing.
Xu Mu frowned and stood in the wind and snow, feeling his body getting colder and colder.
"Mr. Chen, follow me to the official road outside."
…
A hundred miles outside Changyang City, a carriage was driving slowly, its wheels rolling over the snow, leaving two continuous snow marks.
A figure that looked like an old man sitting in the carriage quietly would occasionally raise his hand and cover his mouth and nose to cough.
"Gu Ying, cough, are you ready?" Opening the curtain, Yuan Tao raised his face. On his face, there were deep-set eye sockets and an extremely pale and thin face.
"Master, okay, okay." Gu Ying's voice was hoarse.
"I've also taken care of the old Marquis."
"It's done." Yuan Tao let go of the curtain and sat back in the carriage.
"Master, we still have a long way to go. Otherwise, you should lie down in the car first."
"I have walked upright and sat upright all my life, how can I become crooked?"
As the New Year approached, the wind and snow became more and more violent. After a while, the slow-moving carriage was covered with a layer of white snow.
Gu Ying frowned and stopped. In the carriage, Yuan Tao, who had his eyes closed and was meditating, also opened his eyes slightly.
"Master, the camp soldiers are blocking the way."
"Gu Ying, run over."
After receiving this order, Gu Ying no longer hesitated. He drew out his sword straight away, holding the reins in one hand and holding the sword in front of him with the other.
"Xiao, Xiao Houye, the Ministry of War has ordered that Xiaohou Ye cannot serve in officialdom."
A captain walked forward and mustered up the courage to speak.
"I'm only going to say it once, get out of the way." Gu Ying stopped the carriage and spoke coldly.
The captain and the hundreds of officers and soldiers behind him trembled, but they did not retreat after all.
On the carriage, Yuan Tao closed his eyes again.
Outside the carriage, Gu Ying raised his long knife and dropped it with his hand. When the light of the knife passed by, the young captain who was blocking the way stumbled to the ground holding the bloody mouth on his body.
The officers and soldiers behind were frightened and hurriedly moved out of the way.
The carriage continued to move forward.
Yuan Taoping put his hands together and looked down at each other in silence.
In this life, he thought of many ways to save the country. He studied literature and entered the court, but found that the whole court was full of weak people. He studied martial arts and conquered the battlefield, but found that the country was broken, and there were too many gaps that could not be plugged.
In the end, he became the marquis of Daji, the adopted son of the late emperor, and the little emperor's uncle of the young emperor, but he was still unable to support himself.
"I have lived an absurd life. For more than thirty years, I have been mediocre and wasted. I can't settle a country with words, and I can't stabilize a country with force."
"I just tell the mountain ghosts about my long-cherished wish. If I find a way to live in the next life, just let me be a farmer."
"Ahem."
Gu Ying was outside the carriage and heard the tiger's eyes burst into tears. With trembling hands, he raised the reins and whipped the horse very fast.
…
A small road beside the official road.
More than twenty figures on horseback stood silently in the wind and snow.
Xu Mu calmly led General Feng, one person and one horse. Even though he stood among the crowd, he still seemed a little lonely.
"Master, a carriage is coming." Chen Jiaqiao hurried back from a distance with the horse under his belly.
"The person driving the car is the Silver Sword Guard."
"Mr. Chen, I understand."
Xu Mu responded steadily. He didn't understand why the young Marquis took the initiative to invite him to come for official talks when he was clearly in a state of exhaustion.
If something really happened, he wouldn't mind going to Changyang again.
As Chen Jiaqiao said, a carriage slowly crushed the wind and snow and stopped on the path beside the forest on the official road.
Gu Ying must have cried a lot, and when he spoke, he still had a small voice.
"My young boss, the master can't stand the cold. You can get into the carriage and talk."
"That's easy to say."
Xu Mu straightened his robe, stepped slightly, walked to the side of the carriage, and opened a curtain.
When he raised his head, he saw an old figure sitting upright in the carriage.
"My dear boss, long time no see."
The voice is as hoarse as a broken drum.
Seeing his old friend's face again, Xu Mu suddenly felt sad.
In front of him, the young Marquis who was the only supervisor of the Imperial Dynasty had a look of death on his face. He was in his thirties and was dying like a dying old man.