The number one spendthrift woman in the capital actually brings glory to her entire family?

Sikong Jin nodded. "Yes, this matter is of great importance and cannot be taken lightly. Now that we have the horses, we should leave as soon as possible and not let them find any clues. So you should leave Luoyang City tonight and secretly head to the East Narrow Pass to hide for a while..."

"They haven't discovered it was us, so why should they hide?"

Meng Benbo looked at Sikong Jin with a puzzled expression.

"The fat man is too lonely at Lingxi Pass. I can't bear to see him like this. Why don't you go and be his neighbors? Aren't you brothers?"

"When did I become brothers with that fat bastard? My surname is Meng, his surname is Zhu, we're not brothers at all... Ouch! Sir, you threw a teacup at me? There's still water in it..."

Meng Benbo eventually had to compromise. Although the adults sometimes joked and teased them, once they made a decision, no one could change it. Sometimes, Meng Benbo felt he couldn't understand the adults in front of him. They were greedy, lustful, and cowardly, but in crucial moments, they always displayed talents that others couldn't, and moreover…

After staring intently at Sikong Jin for a long time, only to see him still leisurely bowing his head and adjusting his sleeves, displaying an air of carefree arrogance, Meng Benbo thought for a moment and then spoke up, "My lord, has something major happened recently? Is the enemy preparing to attack the pass? There are also nearly a thousand troops guarding the eastern pass, and you have transferred me there..."

"Something big? What big thing? Has Vice General Mei sent word?"

Sikong Jin raised her head in confusion, her eyes showing some bewilderment; she seemed quite naive.

Meng Benbo frowned, staring at Sikong Jin with considerable suspicion, trying hard to find a flaw in his expression, but after a long while he still couldn't discern anything.

Standing to the side, Zhang Feng and Li Ji tried their best to suppress their laughter—if Deputy General Meng knew that the lord had also banished him to the desolate Dongxia Pass because of Zhu Da Qiushi's one hundred taels of silver and a jar of pear blossom wine, he wondered if Deputy General Meng would be furious.

"My lord, our spies have sent word that Liu Xin and Liu Xianxian's group have secretly left Malan City and arrived in Luoyang City." After struggling for a long time, Meng Benbo finally looked away.

Leaving Maran?

Arrived in Luoyang?

"Wasn't he making a big fuss about going into the mountains to suppress bandits? And why are the spies targeting them?"

"The team that went into the mountains to suppress the bandits was led by their guard captain. I think that was just a pretext. Strategist Zhu had long suspected their motives for staying in Malan City, so he secretly sent spies to monitor them day and night."

"Non-stop surveillance? Ah, the fat man truly lives up to his reputation as the top strategist of Wangzhou. His observations are meticulous, his vision far-sighted, and his foresight remarkable. I believe he is fully deserving of the title of the top strategist of the Great Yong Dynasty..."

Meng Benbo stared at Sikong Jin, who was praising him highly, with a stiff face. He could tell that Sikong Jin was being incredibly hypocritical.

"Wasn't this something that the master instructed Lord Zhu to do?"

"I instructed him? When did I instruct him? Have I forgotten? Hmm, that must be it. I was just saying, how could such great wisdom belong to a fat man? Such foresight must have come from me instructing the fat man to do... Hey, Deputy General Meng... what are you doing? I haven't finished speaking yet! It must have been me... Deputy General Meng..."

Let's go!

They don't recognize this shameless scoundrel!

……

Compared to Malan City, Luoyang City seems slightly warmer. Perhaps it's because Luoyang City's walls are high, blocking the cold winds from all directions. As the sun sets in the evening and darkness falls, Luoyang City and its surroundings are plunged into darkness. In the bustling streets, lanterns are lit and flicker. A crescent moon slowly hangs over the sparse paulownia trees, its light as cold and frosty as snow. A bleak breeze rustles through the paulownia and willow trees.

Horses neighed and hooves clattered. Under the cold moonlight, two riders, shrouded in a chilling wind, passed through the west gate of Luoyang and headed straight for the outskirts. However, as soon as they rushed out of the city gate, a dark shadow hidden in the darkness followed them silently like a ghost.

In a dense forest on the western outskirts of Luoyang.

The galloping steed broke the silence of the cold night. The two men in black on horseback seemed to be in a great hurry, and their constant shouts to the horse echoed in the cold wind.

"Hurry, hurry! We can't afford to delay our master's important business!"

"Yes--"

Just as the other person responded, the galloping horse suddenly stopped, the powerful impact almost causing the man in black on its back to fall off!

"what happened?"

The man in black was startled and quickly looked at his companion, who also looked panicked. As a clear whistle rang out, both of them felt a chill in their hearts and quickly looked ahead. There, on the main road, came a figure dressed in black, wearing a cloak and a black veil hat.

"Who are you? Why are you blocking our way?"

The man in black shouted coldly.

"Leave your things if you don't want to die. My patience is very limited."

A hoarse and deep voice sounded, and in a daze, one could already smell the scent of blood.

"Arrogant! Let's go up there and deal with this first!"

The two men in black exchanged a knowing glance, then leaped into the air, two flashing, cold lights shooting out from their sleeves like aurora borealis streaking across the sky, one on the left and one on the right, heading straight for the man in the black veil and conical hat.

The man in the black veil and conical hat let out a cold laugh, suddenly leaped up, his black shadow swept across the sky, flipped and floated behind him, appearing like lightning behind the two men in black, his cold hands gripping their shoulders like the claws of a vulture.

The man in black was startled. Ignoring the sharp pain in his shoulder, he whirled around, his blade flashing as he lunged at the man in the black veil and conical hat. However, a gust of wind swept over them, blinding them almost instantly. In a flash, they were paralyzed, terror spreading through their bodies. Looking up, they saw the man in the black veil and conical hat on either side, his two fingers casually holding the tips of their blades. A cold wind howled past, lifting the black veil beneath the hat, revealing only a pair of clear, calm eyes...

*Clang!* The blade snapped off and sank into the throat—*Ugh!* A few muffled groans followed. The two who hadn't had time to react widened their eyes, the light in them slowly fading, and they collapsed…

The man in the black veil and conical hat snorted coldly, bent down, and quickly searched the two bodies. Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, he found a letter and a token on their corpses. He put them away and was about to turn and leave when—'clatter—' Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves came from the silent forest ahead. The man in the conical hat raised his head slightly and looked ahead in the moonlight. He saw a young man in an ice-blue robe and a man in black tight-fitting clothes riding towards him on the path ahead.

Under the cold moon of Luoyang, the blue-robed young man was elegant and noble, with a handsome appearance. The man behind him was cold and aloof, and looked like the blue-robed young man's bodyguard.

"It's him again?"

After seeing the two people clearly, a puzzled voice came from under the straw hat.

The moment the foul wind swept in, the young man in blue robes also saw the man in the bamboo hat.