Peach Blossom.

For the rest of the journey, they continued to travel at a relatively fast pace, only stopping and returning to the ground when they needed to eat, go to the toilet, or sleep.

They always take off and land in deserted places, and even pass through places with as few people as possible to avoid scaring anyone.

Fortunately, it hadn't rained in the past few days, so their flight was relatively smooth and they finally arrived in Yongchang on the fifth day.

When they entered Yongchang, Tao Ye was already very hungry. She felt that sitting still was a very exhausting thing, but she walked forward for a long time despite being hungry, and did not see a street market or small shop where she could buy food.

It should be said that they didn't see anyone on the ground at all in the past half day!

Tao Ye was tired and hungry, and could not hold on any longer, so he had to get down to the ground to rest.

Where they landed was a wasteland, with steep mountains on its back and canyons in the mountains. In front of them was an endless stream of weeds, with varying heights and densities, growing in no order. Under the strong sunlight, the land was baked with thick and thin cracks.

Tao Ye looked around, shook his head and sighed in disappointment: "This place, even birds don't poop! I don't think it's possible to find food!"

Wang Jing listened to Tao Ye's words and smiled gently: "When I was in Jiankang, I told you that Yongchang was a barren land, but you insisted on coming. Now you have seen it. If you can't stay here, you'd better return early and suffer less!"

"Who said I can't stay here anymore?" Tao Ye pouted and snorted unconvincedly: "Don't even think of finding an excuse to chase me away! Do you really think I'm a free driver? Are you going to burn the bridge after crossing it?"

Wang Jing still smiled gently. He certainly didn't understand the meaning of "free driver", but he knew the meaning of "destroying the bridge after crossing it".

He was able to arrive in Yongchang so quickly with Tao Ye's help, so how could he just chase people away?

He took out a kettle and a paper bag from the wooden box and handed them to Tao Ye. In the paper bag were a few sesame cakes bought yesterday.

Tao Ye took a few big gulps of water, then took the sesame seed cake and finished it in a few bites. When she looked up, she saw that Wang Jing had not eaten anything.

"Aren't you hungry?" Tao Ye asked sullenly.

Wang Jing shook his head.

"Then why do I always get hungry so quickly?" Tao Ye muttered again.

Wang Jing smiled without saying anything. He took out a map from the wooden box, looked carefully at the routes on the map, and then looked around at the terrain around them.

Tao Ye is a person with poor directionality. Even if she is familiar with a road, she can still make mistakes, let alone an unfamiliar place. Along the way, she was only responsible for giving orders with the wooden cane. As for where they were or where the next stop was, she did not ask at all.

While eating the pancake, she looked at Wang Jing and felt that he looked more and more handsome.

Due to long-term medication, his face looked a little sick, but he still had handsome eyebrows and eyes, and his demeanor was elegant. His white clothes made his skin look like cream, but... Tao Ye's favorite thing to look at was his long and thick eyelashes.

With such a handsome man in front of her, Tao Ye was never tired of it even if she ate less or ran around. She even fantasized about what Wang Jing looked like several years ago - he was known as "the most handsome man in the capital", how handsome was he?

"You are so beautiful!" Tao Ye said it accidentally.

"Huh?" Wang Jing looked up. He was concentrating on analyzing the route and did not hear Tao Ye's words clearly.

Tao Ye smiled awkwardly and changed the topic to ask, "You said Yongchang is a barren land. How barren is it?"

"Haven't you heard what people outside are saying about Yongchang? 'It has a name but no people, it is a desolate place with no foundation.' It seems that Yongchang has been abandoned by the Great Qi Kingdom." Wang Jing answered, his eyes still on the map.

"A name but no people?" Tao Ye was a little surprised: "You mean, Yongchang is an empty city? There is no one there at all?"

"That's not the case. Since Prince Yongchang is here, there must be people here, but they are sparsely populated!"

"Where is Prince Yongchang?"

"Yongchang County has eight counties in total. The King of Yongchang took Xitang County as the county head, so he was naturally in Xitang."

"Then Xitang should be the richest of the eight counties in Yongchang, right?"

"No, Xitang is the poorest place in Yongchang." Wang Jing raised his head again and looked around: "I think this is Xitang."

Tao Ye couldn't quite understand. After all, Prince Yongchang almost became an emperor. It was already tragic that he was demoted to the distant Yongchang. Why did he choose the most barren place in Yongchang as his residence?

Wang Jing put down the map and took out another piece of paper to look at it.

Tao Ye leaned forward. Wasn't that the one that she had leaked to Chen Ji before and that was copied by Chen Ji?

She shouted excitedly: "This, this, this...isn't this the map of the eight vaults?"

"This can only be called the map of the seven vaults. If all eight had been taken, Chen Ji would have no need to keep my father alive." Wang Jing closed the map and packed his luggage: "I must see my father before he finds the eighth vault! Let's go!"

Tao Ye seemed to understand something, but still seemed confused: "Where to?"

“Ailao County.”

So, the two of them once again flew in the air on their canes and headed towards Ailao County.

While walking on the road, Tao Ye asked, "What is the origin of the eight treasuries?"

"Do you know about the Zhao brothers' rebellion?"

Tao Ye shook her head.

Wang Jing then told Tao Ye about the history of his dynasty: "When the Great Qi Kingdom was first established, the north and the south were unified, and the country enjoyed peace and prosperity for many years. But when the throne was passed to Emperor Suzong, the powerful Zhao brothers rebelled and occupied the north. Emperor Suzong led his troops to suppress the rebellion, but was captured by the Zhao brothers. Emperor Suzong could not bear the humiliation and died for his country.

The ministers supported Suzong's brother Zhongzong to become the emperor. Zhao led his army southward. To avoid Zhao's attack, Zhongzong fled west with a large amount of gold. However, due to the heavy baggage, guards and horses and mules, they could not bear the load and moved slower and slower. When he fled to Yongchang, the area was vast and sparsely populated, so Zhongzong decided to hide the treasures there temporarily.

At that time, only Zhongzong and the queen planned the location of the treasure, and the craftsmen hired to hide the treasure were all poor local farmers. After digging the soil to bury the treasure, Zhongzong was afraid that the news would be leaked, so he assassinated all the craftsmen. However, one or two of those poor craftsmen were not easy to mess with. Not long after Zhongzong and his wife escaped from Yongchang, they were killed by the family of the deceased in revenge. At that time, only Hyeonjong escaped because he was young and hid in a water tank.

Xianzong had a vague memory of the hidden treasures, but he could not remember them clearly. He only remembered that they were stored in eight places, so they were called the "Eight Great Treasurys". Xianzong regarded these treasures as a disaster, so he never looked for them. Later, it was with the military strength of the Chen family and the financial resources of the Shen family that Xianzong was able to return to Jiankang and inherit the throne. The Chen and Shen families became the most proud dignitaries in Qi.

At this time, the Zhao brothers in the north were destroyed by their subordinates, the Wei family, and the Wei family established a country. From then on, a situation of coexistence of Northern Wei and Southern Qi was formed. Xianzong had to recognize the status of Wei. It can even be said that Xianzong was afraid that Wei could not accommodate Qi.

In order to stabilize the situation, Xianzong promised to marry his children to the Chen and Shen families. The Shen family was a merchant family and was not good at wielding power, so Xianzong did not need to worry too much. However, the Chen family had its own army, so how could it be expected that the rebellion of the Zhao brothers would not happen again?

The Chen family had the largest military force, and it belonged to the Duke of Qiao. Xianzong learned that the Duke of Qiao had two sons, the eldest was a concubine and the second was a legitimate son, namely Chen Xi and Chen Ji. The last thing Xianzong did before his death was to instigate Chen Xi and Chen Ji. Chen Xi was young and impulsive at the time, and he hated his father's partiality. He looked for opportunities to seize military power as soon as he was incited. Chen Ji was young at the time and could do nothing about it.

Xianzong also concealed the real cause of Duke Qiao's death for Chen Xi, so as to prevent the rest of the Chen family from pursuing Chen Xi. Chen Xi was grateful to Xianzong and swore allegiance to him. Because Duke Qiao had a good relationship with Prince Yongchang when he was alive, Chen Xi could only support Xianzong's second son, the Emperor Xiaozong you know. "

Hearing this, Tao Ye recalled that Chen Ji had once told her about Chen Xi's murder of his father for power. At that time, she was puzzled as to how Chen Xi could be so bold. It turned out that he had been secretly instructed by the emperor!

Wang Jing continued, "And Empress Dowager Meng - at that time, she was the noble concubine of Emperor Xianzong. Meng was the most favored by Emperor Xianzong. She raised Emperor Xiaozong and naturally hoped that he would ascend the throne. Therefore, she wanted Emperor Xiaozong to marry the daughter of the Shen family and win over the members of the Chen family. Because Chen Xi was destined to be unlucky in marriage, Princess Si Yao was promised to Chen Ji.

Before his death, Xianzong told Xiaozong about his vague memory of the "Eight Treasurys" in case of emergency, and left a will to Xiaozong that the marriages between Chen and Shen should not be abolished, but Chen Ji should never be given an official position or allowed to be independent, so he should be made to live under Chen Xi.

When Emperor Xiaozong first ascended the throne, he followed the will of the emperor, but he could not stand the fact that the Chen and Shen families obeyed the empress dowager's orders, so he promoted our Wang family to weaken the power of Chen and Shen. Our Wang family is a rising star, and our ancestors' official positions are far inferior to those of the Chen and Shen families, but we have an advantage that they cannot match, that is, there are many people. Looking at the whole country of Qi, the surname Wang must be the most!

One of the important reasons why the Wang family has so many descendants is the rule set by the ancestors - not to take concubines. In large families, wives and concubines often fight for favor, and it is not uncommon for pregnant women to lose their babies or young children to be killed. The Wang family has been harmonious and united for generations, so it has enough strength to resist external storms.

Because my elder brother had been Xiaozong's companion, Xiaozong knew the family tradition in my family very well and valued it very much. Xiaozong was unwilling to be controlled by Queen Mother Meng, so he decided to find the eight treasuries in order to secretly raise elite troops in the future.

In Qi, my father was the one who knew geography best. He had the fewest children among his brothers because he often claimed to be sick and went out to work for Emperor Xiaozong, and he spent less time with my mother. That was why there were rumors that my father was in poor health.

Yongchang has eight counties and eight treasuries, so there must be one treasury in each county. My father found seven treasuries in seven counties and drew maps, but the treasury in Ailao County has not been found yet. It has been almost two years since he sent me a message, on his way to Ailao. After that, there was no news from him.

My mother once suspected that something had happened to him, until you told me last time that Chen Ji had seen him in Yongchang. I couldn't guess why he didn't contact my family since he was still alive. I suspected that he was controlled by someone, maybe Chen Ji or someone else. "

Tao Ye understood everything, but there was only one thing she was confused about: "Who did your father ask to deliver messages to our family in the past?"

"They are my uncle's trusted secret guards. I have an uncle, Wang Xiao, who is stationed at the border between Wei and Qi. He has many elite soldiers and generals under his command. Because my father left the capital alone to search for treasure, my uncle specially sent two trusted guards to protect my father and assist him in his work."

"So, it's not just your father who has disappeared without a trace, but also your uncle's two confidants?"

Wang Jing nodded.

Tao Ye couldn't guess why Wang Jing's father Wang Yi didn't contact his family. How could three strong men, two of whom were martial arts masters, be easily controlled?

Winter is over and the weather is getting warmer. Yongchang is located at a high altitude, and they are flying in the air, closer to the sun, so it is really hot!

Tao Ye was daydreaming about what might happen. She kept using her palm as a fan, fanning herself on one side, and glanced down at the earth with boredom.

Flying over the sparsely populated Yongchang, it was rare to see people on the ground. Even if one or two were seen occasionally, they were all woodcutters carrying firewood or beggars begging for food, looking very poor... But this time, when Tao Ye looked down, he actually saw a carriage!

Wang Jing also noticed the carriage.

The two men then flew lower, and for fear of being discovered, they deliberately landed behind the carriage, but unexpectedly saw a man with excellent martial arts skills following them secretly not far behind the carriage.

Tao Ye felt vaguely that the man looked familiar: "Is it Ma Da?"