Gui Yuan

The study was burned down, and Ning Kecheng could only handle official business in her own room for the time being.On the second day after he left the water, Li Meng heard the news and came to Ning Mansion to look for him. Talking about this matter, Ning Kecheng took out the broken letter from the drawer, put it on the desk, and pushed it in front of him with two fingers.Li Meng was shocked when he saw it: "This, how could this be in..."

Ning Kecheng tilted his head slightly, the dim candlelight shone on his face, sinking like a cold pool.

"You took the envelope away when you checked the origin of this stamp. Within two days, an identical letter appeared in the drawer of my study."

Li Meng rolled his eyes, clarified the relationship, and said: "This letter was put in on purpose. But if you want to pour dirty water on you, why do you have to set it on fire? Keep it as evidence, and everyone will get the stolen goods in the future." , It’s hard to argue with words. The subordinates went to the scene to see, if the fire was bigger, the whole house would be turned into ruins, so it would be superfluous to release the letter.”

"This is what he wants, so naturally he won't do it lightly."

At first, Ning Kecheng couldn't understand this point. The people behind the scenes must have noticed that he was investigating the matter. If he was worried about other evidence in the study, it would be normal to want to destroy the corpse.Just one point, since the fire oil was poured, why not simply burn the house down completely, doing so dirty seems to run counter to the previous vigorous and resolute behavior, but if you think about it carefully, you will understand.The study is backed by water, and there are many people coming and going in front of the door. Once a fire breaks out, it will not take long for someone to find out. It is convenient to fetch water, even if it is poured with kerosene, it will only burn for a moment.

The people behind the scenes knew that they were still safe now, and they probably knew that he was investigating the letter stamp, so they did everything possible to do this, not to frame him, but to let him know the truth and retreat in spite of the difficulties.The man silently reminded him that the prime minister's mansion can come and go freely, sneaking into the study room to release letters quietly, there is no guarantee that tomorrow will not be bribery or stolen goods.That person seemed to be mocking him, there were so many ways to kill him, if he let it go once, there would never be another time.He is in the light, and the enemy is in the dark, so he is really passive.

Ning Ke said: "He did it for me to see, let me stop in time, don't meddle in this matter again."

"My subordinates also asked some people about the letter stamp, but they couldn't tell the reason. It's just started now, and the people behind the scenes can't hold back. If we continue to investigate, I'm afraid it will endanger the adults." Finding out the truth is important, but Li Meng He was even more worried about Ning Kecheng's safety.

"But if I really know the difficulty and retreat, I won't be Ning Kecheng." Ning Kecheng smiled slightly, obviously taking these things lightly and fearless.He thought of another thing, "Yesterday, the kid Ning Qing read this letter, and I looked at him with a strange expression."

Li Meng asked in surprise: "Could it be possible that Mr. Ning also knows about this?"

"I guess he was inadvertently involved in the investigation of the grain draft in southern Xinjiang, and it may still be related to Du Yuan."

Li Meng thought of what happened to the Duke of Anguo's mansion two days ago, which seemed to make sense, and reported: "The Duke of Anguo's mansion was attacked by thieves a few days ago, and Huang Jun from the Ministry of Punishment is investigating this matter, could it be related to this matter? "

"What, Duke Anguo's mansion has been thieves?"

"Yes, I heard that nothing was stolen. Huang Jun sent a group of people to investigate, but they haven't found anyone yet. The fact that they appear and disappear is somewhat similar to the person who set fire. If it's for the same thing, even if it's not the same person We’re a group, we can’t escape the relationship.”

Ning Kecheng nodded, with a sad expression on her face: "How could Ning Qing be involved in this matter?"

After a long time, he let out a long sigh: "In the past, he studied with the prince. He was talented and he was the leader among the group. I didn't like him. Later, he hung around in teahouses and taverns for entertainment. Although I reprimanded him, I felt more relaxed. Things in the hall are changing rapidly, so why bother letting him get involved, it would be better to be like a child from an ordinary family, ordinary but living freely."

Li Meng knew that the lord was eager to love his son, so he had no choice but to persuade him: "My lord is intelligent, and his talent cannot be concealed, since he cannot be stopped, it is better to protect him silently."

Anguo Gongfu.

After seeing the broken letter in Ning Mansion last night, Ning Qing tossed and turned all night.He had doubts for a moment, but after thinking about it carefully, there were many doubts in it.The most important thing is that if his father did have this letter, he must have known its importance long ago, why would he keep it in the dark room and put it in the desk drawer.The only explanation is that someone else put the letter in, because outsiders didn't know that there was a dark room in the study, so they could only put it in the safest place.It was this that convinced him that his father had nothing to do with the people behind the scenes, and he was probably on the same mission as him, and was detected as a warning.

Ning Qing couldn't help admiring the man's supernatural powers. Knowing that his father was investigating, he went to the Ning Mansion to set fire to warn him, and suspected that he had a letter in his hand, so he went to the An Guo Gong Mansion to burglarize. This kind of confidence is really admirable.He was thinking about going to Ning Mansion to find out about his father in two days, when Lin Rong came in outside and preached: "My lord, Jiang Luwen from the Ministry of Punishment is here."

Jiang Luwen seems to be someone who is always by Huang Jun's side. What is he doing here?

Ning Qing passed the pass, got up and went to the main hall to meet him.A while later, Jiang Luwen brought a person into the hall with a smile on his face, and he congratulated him, which made Ning Qing puzzled: "Why do you like it?"

"Since the government was attacked by thieves, we adults have been thinking about it in our dreams."

Didn't you say that you forgot to eat and sleep, and had a dream?As expected of Huang Jun's subordinates, they are all glib.Ning Qing pursed her lips and picked up the teacup.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Jiang Luwen could only continue: "Your Excellency asked us to investigate and interrogate around the palace. The subordinates dare not neglect. After several days, we really found a clue."

"Oh?" Ning Qing looked up at him when he heard the words, with a happy expression on his face, he put the tea lid back on the tea cup, and put the tea cup aside.It seems that Huang Jun is not useless, he asked: "What clues have you found?"

Seeing that he was interested, Jiang Luwen hurriedly hit the railway and said: "That day the Duke's mansion encountered bandits around the second watch, and it happened that the watchman Hong Shan was doing watch near the mansion at that time, and his subordinates had already brought him here."

Jiang Luwen took a step away, and the people behind him came into Ning Qing's eyes.Hong Shan looked old, with gray hair and shambling steps.

Hong Shan, who had never been in contact with the royal family at this age, was at a loss, and tremblingly planned to kneel down, but Ning Qing hurriedly stopped him: "Uncle Hong, you can be my grandfather at this age, and you really dare not accept this great gift."

In panic, Hong Shan was reminded by the winking Jiang Luwen: "Tell me what you saw again."

Hong Shan nodded, recalling the situation of that night, and said: "That night, the villain was on watch in Qianjie. I remember it very clearly. On the second watch, there is usually no one on the street except me at this time, but that night was unusual. I heard a movement on the roof, worried about meeting thieves, so I found a corner to hide. Although the villain is old, his eyesight is not bad. I saw two people in night clothes sprinting on the roof, one behind the other. Jump into a yard."

The thief disappeared in a blink of an eye, and it is very likely that he entered a nearby mansion, which is exactly what Ning Qing thought at the time.

Ning Qing asked: "Have you seen whose yard it is?"

Hong Shan said affirmatively: "It's not very far away, the villain can see it clearly, it's the private house of Treasurer Yuan of Jukezhai."

Shopkeeper Yuan?Yuan Xu?Since the third prince's attendant died suddenly in Jukezhai last time, Ning Qing hadn't been to Jukezhai for several months, and suddenly heard the name and couldn't react for a while.

He paused for a moment, nodded and said: "Okay, I see, Lin Rong, send Uncle Hong out, and go to the warehouse to get silver ingots for him."

After Lin Rong took him out, Ning Qing asked Jiang Luwen, "Have you checked Yuan Xu's background?"

Jiang Luwen was secretly happy, and hurriedly replied: "I have checked, and it is very innocent. Jukezhai's business has always been booming, and many high-ranking officials and nobles will go to Jukezhai, so Yuan Xu also has some face in the imperial capital."

"Yuan Xu is the shopkeeper, who is the master?"

Jiang Luwen hesitated for a moment, wondering: "I have sent people to investigate this, but there is no result yet, but if he can afford such a large restaurant, this person must be considered a figure in the imperial capital."

Ning Qing lowered his head, tapped the armrest of the armchair with his left index finger, raised his head after thinking for a while and said, "Master Huang is very attentive, thank him for me, and ask Master Huang to continue investigating the thief, and come back to the government if there is any news. "

Jiang Luwen accepted the order with a smile, and asked again: "Since the thief has entered the private house of shopkeeper Yuan, should you call him to the Criminal Department for questioning?"

"Well, that's fine. However, even though the thief entered his house, it doesn't mean that he has something to do with the thief. After all, he is a man of face. Before you have any clues, don't make things difficult for him."

Jiang Luwen bowed his hands and saluted: "Yes, this subordinate understands that if the young master has nothing else to do, this subordinate will return to the Ministry of Punishment first."

"Go."

When Lin Rong came back, Ning Qing was the only one left in the main hall. Seeing him, he said, "Go and call Chief Chen, I have something to say to him."

Chen Chunluan listened to Ning Qing roughly say what happened just now, and asked: "My lord suspects Yuan Xu?"

"Yes, but there is no proof."

"Then why doesn't the son let the Criminal Ministry continue to investigate?"

"The Ministry of Punishment is under a lot of restrictions. If Yuan Xu's family really has some background, I'm afraid Huang Jun won't be able to stop it. Since it's more pure to let them investigate the thieves, they only investigate this, and I don't feel relieved to leave it to them."

Chen Chunluan understood that he was afraid of scaring the snake.

Ning Qing said to him: "General Manager Chen, don't worry about the thieves first, you can check Yuan Xu privately, it's not just him, Juke Zhai is as big, and he also has a private house, which can't be taken care of by one person, there should be Don't let your confidants go, come back and tell me if you have any clues."

Chen Chunluan was ordered to step back.

Ning Qing immediately got up and walked out, Lin Rong hurriedly asked: "My lord, where are you going?"

"To Fetina."

Fei Tianben was lying on the soft couch, his legs were dangling in the air, his eyes were staring blankly at the roof, and he was grabbing the grapes and feeding them to his mouth.He suddenly heard footsteps and jumped up happily. There was no one else who could come to him in the mansion except Ning Qing.

Ning Qing asked Lin Rong to close the door after entering the room, Fei Tian was puzzled and said, "Brother Lan Yu, what's wrong with you, are you mysterious?"

Ning Qing didn't beat around the bush, and asked directly: "Fei Tian, ​​I have something to ask you."

Fei Tian nodded.

"I asked you before when I was in the Ministry of Punishment. You said that you never robbed the rich and gave to the poor after you arrived in the imperial capital. But Yuan Xu said that you stole things from his master's house. Think about it again, is there anything related to it?"

Fei Tian was at a loss. He couldn't figure out what happened a few months ago, but now it's not even more difficult.

"You came from Xingchuan, and you have traveled through many places. I wonder if there is anyone in the city or outside the city that can be related to this matter?"

"I remembered when you said that." Fei Tian suddenly remembered, "I stole a fortune outside the city of Yanzhou, and there was a big house in the countryside. I thought it must be obtained by exploiting tenants, so I slipped in at night. I don’t know where, but I was discovered shortly after I entered the house, and in the end I just frantically took some light silver bills from the drawer.”

Ning Qing was deep in thought, Fei Tian thought he was angry, and quickly apologized: "I swear, I did it this time, and when you asked me if I had stolen in the imperial capital, I didn't think of the crime outside the city. thing."

"No, I didn't think about that." Ning Qing suddenly raised her head and asked him, "Is the thing you stole back then still there?"

"Yes, they are all large-value banknotes. I won't need them for a while, so I divided some of them and kept two or three." Fei Tian took out the baggage from the closet, took it to the table, and found the one at the bottom. In a stack, there are indeed several bank notes on the surface, one of which is 1000 taels.

"Did you take these banknotes to the pawn shop and exchange them for silver?"

Fei Tian was surprised: "How do you know? 1000 taels is too much. I will change it into silver before distributing it to the poor."

"That's right." Ning Qing said, "The banknotes with large amounts are marked. If you go to the pawnshop to exchange them rashly, you may be reported on the back foot as soon as you leave."

Fei Tian suddenly said: "I just said why I was picked up not long after I entered the Juke Zhai. It turned out that it was a mistake and I sent it to the door by myself."

Ning Qing put the banknotes aside, looked at the bag, felt familiar, and asked, "Is this the bag you used when you went to southern Xinjiang?"

"I only have this burden, so naturally use this."

Ning Qing let out a snort, and said with a smile: "I was surprised at that time, why your baggage is so much better than other people's drums, it turned out that it was filled with silver, it is really unpredictable."

It seems that Yuan Xu knew that Fei Tian had stolen the bank notes, why didn't he tell?The house that Fei Tian stole must have something to do with Yuan Xu, but when Wei Yao sent Fei Tian to the government, his expression was a bit strange, it seemed that he didn't intend to make trouble with the public, but only wanted to do it privately.It is obvious that the victim is the one, so why hide it?The burglar a few days ago also hid in Yuan Xu's house, is there any connection between these two things?

If these two things are indeed related, it can only explain one thing.The thief took pains to enter the palace, and what he wanted to steal was not silver notes.Just now Fei Tian said that when he went to southern Xinjiang, he also brought this baggage with him. After returning to the imperial capital, this baggage was confined with them for two months. Not long after the restriction was lifted, the burglar happened. Could it be that there is something in the baggage that makes them more concerned? thing?

Ning Qing reached out to the bag, pulled it, and the whole bag fell apart. After sweeping away the debris on the surface, the stack of letters underneath was exposed in front of her eyes.Ning Qing became tense in an instant, picked up the letter lightly, looked through a few copies, and then stopped.Although Fei Tian didn't know what he was doing, he was a little nervous when he saw that he hadn't moved for a long time, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Ning Qing put down the other letters, leaving only one, and handing it to him, Fei Tian asked blankly, "What is it?"

Ning Qing said flatly: "They came here for this."

Fei Tian took the letter, looked down, his eyes widened in fright, and hurriedly took out the secret letter brought from southern Xinjiang from his bag, and put it together for comparison.He also couldn't believe that he got the envelope by accident long ago, and said at a loss: "I, I really didn't know there was such a thing. I didn't have too many scruples at the beginning, so I just grabbed a stack and left. These, I have all these things." Didn't look carefully."

Ning Qing smiled slightly, and patted him on the shoulder: "Fei Tian, ​​you've been of great help, Brother Wei, I'll ask the cook to add more dishes for you tonight."

"Me, what can I do to help?"

"We have Du Yuan's letter in our hands. At that time, everyone didn't know what he meant by this move, but now we understand." Ning Qing walked a few steps, turned to him and said, "The people behind Du Yuan can't do everything. To come out, you need a way to prove your identity, so as not to be impersonated by others, this letter stamp is for this purpose. Based on the letter stamp, we will be able to touch the people behind the scenes, so they are also anxious, so they have to take this trick to steal the mansion , I didn’t expect it to be self-defeating.”

"I see. So what do we do next?"

"Do you still remember the location of the house outside the city?"

...

Outside Juke Zhai, Chen Chunluan had been staring at it for a few days, running back and forth between Juke Zhai and Yuan Xu's private house, to figure out the general idea.On weekdays, Yuan Xu greeted guests at the Juke Zhai, and he personally took care of most of the matters in the shop. He was so busy that he went back to the house to rest after closing the shop, until he went out early the next morning to go to the Juke Zhai.He has a capable man named Huo Sancheng, who is always by his side, and Yuan Xu often mentions him, so he is regarded as a confidant.

This day, Huo Sancheng came out soon after entering the shop, Yuan Xu still stayed in Jukezhai, it was abnormal, Chen Chunluan waited for these days, finally waited for them to make a move, then quietly followed him, saw him getting into the carriage, He turned around and took the horse and followed him from a distance.The carriage went around and got out of the city gate. At this time, there were few people, so there was no need to avoid people's eyes and ears as in the city, and the carriage drove straight forward.Chen Chunluan riding a horse was too conspicuous in the barren mountains and plains, so he turned into the forest halfway and continued to follow in the dark.

He followed all the way to a large house located at the foot of the mountain and beside the field. There were two bright red gold characters hanging on the gate, Huo Mansion, and there were eight servants guarding the gate with wooden sticks.Huo Sancheng got out of the carriage, and the servant opened the closed gate when he saw him. When Huo Sancheng entered the house, the gate was closed again immediately.

Seeing this, Chen Chunluan immediately returned to the Duke's mansion and reported to Ning Qing: "Huo Sancheng entered the house outside the city, which is exactly the place Mr. Fei said."

Previously, relying on his remaining memories, Fei Tian had led Chen Chunluan through a walk, and found the house he was talking about, which was exactly the Huo Mansion he saw today.

This move was nothing more than a final decision for Ning Qing, Huo Sancheng was Yuan Xu's confidant, so Yuan Xu couldn't escape the responsibility.But Yuan Xu is just a soldier and fish general, and the real Dragon Lord is still hidden in the water, so how to make him show up is the key.

Ning Qing said: "Continue to guard, if anyone else goes besides Huo Sancheng, you must be careful."

"Yes, this subordinate has asked the guards to take turns to guard, and will never let go of any trouble."

After Chen Chunluan stepped back, Ning Qing got up, bowed his head to look around, and said with a smile, "Not bad, I'm well dressed today."

Lin Rong said: "My lord, you don't usually care about your clothes. What's the matter today... Is it possible that you want to go back to Ningfu?"

Ning Qing glanced at him with a smile: "You are smart."

Ning Kecheng happened to be at home today, so he was not surprised to see him come back, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

Ning Qing saluted respectfully, glanced secretly, and said with a smile: "A few days ago, my son left in a hurry, and I didn't have time to talk to my father properly. I don't know what's going on in the study now?"

Ning Jiao asked Uncle He to serve some refreshments, Ning Qing took a look and found that they were all his favorites.

"It's all right. Someone has been sent to rebuild it. There aren't many things going on recently. I'll deal with it in my room for the time being, and it's okay."

Ning Qing responded, reached out for a piece of pastry, chewed it abnormally slowly, apparently waiting for his father to speak first.Ning Kecheng naturally understood that when he thought of thousands of words before he was about to speak, he couldn't speak. He looked at Ning Qing, sighed imperceptibly, and said, "Everything must be measured, and remember to take care of yourself."

Hearing the words, Ning Qing looked up at him blankly, and then smiled: "Father is the same, don't overwork yourself, take care of yourself."

Until Ningqing was about to leave after dinner, the two of them didn't mention what they saw in the study that day. The father and son's heart was like a mirror, everything was clear, but they didn't expose it.There are some things that you can't answer even if you ask them, so why bother to ask?

Ning Qing turned to his own room to get the letter from Muyuanli and left, and only opened it when he returned to the Duke's mansion.On the day when Ning's mansion was flooded, he sent a letter back to his mansion, asking about the war in southern Xinjiang, whether Tao Ji knew some inside information, and now Tao Ji has replied to the letter.

The letter mentioned that Beidi King made new cannons, and Nanman King bought a batch.No wonder the confidence to raid Xuanyu Pass was due to the prestige of King Beidi.

After reading the letter, Ning Qing changed hands and set it on fire.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and he opened it to see that it was Chen Chunluan.

"Why is General Chen so anxious? Is there news from outside the city?" Ning Qing was a little curious. Chen Chunluan always showed such an expression.

"No, it's not outside the city, it's Southern Xinjiang." Chen Chunluan took a deep breath, still unable to hide his sadness, "Not long ago, the imperial court received a quick performance from Southern Xinjiang, and thought that there were not many soldiers in Southern Xinjiang, but unexpectedly there were enough troops. There are [-] of them, and they are not only magic cannons from where they came from, they are amazingly powerful, and their defense is especially strong. Our army did not gain the upper hand in the two strong attacks."

Ning Qing pondered for a moment, then asked: "Our army only has [-] soldiers and horses, but the general wants more troops from the imperial court?"

"Yes. The general wrote to add another [-] soldiers and horses, but the remaining [-] soldiers and horses in the northern border cannot be moved, and the rest of the troops are scattered everywhere. There is no soldier talisman and cannot be mobilized. But when the general was grounded last time, the soldier talisman was handed over by His Majesty .”

Ning Qing asked in surprise, "Have you changed it yet?"

"Your Majesty didn't mention the return talisman, so the general didn't take the initiative to ask for it."

Ning Qing rushed forward with anger, closed his eyes to control his emotions.Emperor Xiangfeng really had a good plan. Seeing that the troops he wanted were not many, he seized the soldier amulets and refused to return them.

"Could it be that His Majesty still doesn't intend to return the soldier talisman at such a time?"

"Your Majesty is nervous about the war in southern Xinjiang, so why not return it. This is the person who sent to return the soldier talisman..." Chen Chunluan looked at him and said, "The general personally said that he wants you to go."

"Me?" Ning Qing had a look of disbelief, almost thinking that he had misheard.

Chen Chunluan nodded and said: "Yes. Someone from the palace should pass it on soon."

Before the words finished, Lin Rong rushed over and was surprised when he saw Chen Chunluan: "General Manager Chen is also here."

Then he said to Ning Qing: "Young master, a little eunuch came to the palace and said that His Majesty invited you into the palace."

It really is.

Ning Qing nodded and said: "You prepare the carriage first, I will change my clothes, and then I will come."

The carriage turned slowly to the front of the palace gate, and the little eunuch reminded in front of the carriage: "My lord, we're here."

Ning Qing lifted the curtain of the car and got down along the footstool. He had no official uniform, but a light blue veiled brocade robe, restrained and very suitable.

Lin Rong stayed in the carriage and waited for him. The little eunuch led him to the outside of the Anqing Hall. Feng Yu hurried up to greet him when he saw him: "Young Master Ning is here. After receiving the general's letter, His Majesty was so worried that he didn't even have a proper lunch. , just waiting for you to come."

A joke, his face is approachable when he asks for something, and he doesn't have the courage to occupy the soldier talisman at all.

Ning Qing smiled and said, "Your Majesty has been waiting for a long time."

When Emperor Xiangfeng saw him, there was a gleam of joy on his tired face, and he ordered Feng Yu to serve tea himself, and gave him a seat.

Ning Qing leaned over slightly to thank.

Emperor Xiangfeng rubbed his head, and asked: "You must know the reason why I invited you here."

"Yes, I heard about it."

"At first, I thought that there were not many soldiers and horses needed this time, and there was no need to use military talismans. Besides, Wei Yao was banned for three months. It was an exception to lift the ban in advance. It is not good to return the military talismans to him in advance, so I planned to wait for him to come back. Return it, it’s just that I didn’t expect such a change, it’s my lack of consideration.”

Ning Qing glanced at Feng Yu calmly, his bright worried expression was really ridiculous.From Ning Qing's point of view, this is Zhu Qin's own fault, and now he is putting on a look of excusability for who to see.

Although he is dissatisfied, he can't face the emperor face to face, and the way of honor and inferiority still needs to be guarded.

"How could Your Majesty think that Nanman was playing tricks and hiding his strength? Please don't blame yourself. The battle ahead is very important now."

When he said this, Emperor Xiangfeng remembered the business, and replied: "It is true. The general sent a letter saying that you should escort the soldier talisman yourself. Feng Yu has already found the soldier talisman. You take it and send it to southern Xinjiang as soon as possible."

Emperor Xiangfeng handed the brocade box to Feng Yu, and Feng Yu handed it over to him. Ning Qing accepted it, stood up and saluted, and said, "If your majesty has nothing else to do, I will go back to the mansion first, prepare early, and leave early Southern Xinjiang."

"Alright. You also need some troops to go to the southern border, but do you want me to allocate them to you?"

Ning Qing smiled slightly, shook his head, and declined him: "Don't dare to bother Your Majesty, there are enough people in the mansion, I just need to bring some."

After being refuted bluntly, Emperor Xiangfeng's face froze for a moment, looked at him and nodded, and his tone was a bit cold: "That's true, then you should go back to the government to make arrangements, and don't miss the military plane."

"I take orders." Ning Qing decisively knelt down and saluted, then got up and left.

Emperor Xiangfeng turned his head and glanced at him, and said to Feng Yu: "Young Master Ning Xiang has a temper. Seeing Ning Xiang's loyalty, he promised his son to Wei Yao as a restraint. It seems that I made a mistake. He is better than Wei Yao. Yao is still powerful, dare to show me face to face."

I don't know how many times Feng Yu has dealt with this kind of situation, and he has already practiced the ability to handle it with ease.He had no choice but to persuade him as usual: "Young Master Ning is used to being arrogant, maybe it wasn't on purpose."

"Let him go. I'm too lazy to argue with him."

After Ning Qing returned to the mansion, he asked Chen Chunluan to pick some guards for him to protect him to go to southern Xinjiang.

After Chen Chunluan made the arrangements, he was still worried: "There are only 12 people, will there be fewer?"

"More than enough." Ning Qing smiled confidently.

"Then, do you want your subordinates to go together?"

"No need, you stay in the imperial capital and continue to stare outside the city. If necessary, send a letter to the East Palace, and the crown prince will deal with it."

"Prince?" Chen Chunluan asked in surprise, somehow the prince was involved.

"The prince also knows, so you can rest assured to find him when the time comes."

The next day, Zhu Yu went out of the palace after hearing the news and met Ning Qing. Hearing what he said about recent events, he was amazed: "I didn't expect that there were so many complicated details behind that letter. Don't worry, you will pay close attention to this letter when you are not in the imperial capital." thing."

"Thank you, Prince." Ning Qing smiled slightly.

"I see that you are really busy after getting married. One thing after another, you haven't had a good rest. Now you have to go to the chaotic places in southern Xinjiang to send military amulets. There will be dangers everywhere, so you must protect yourself."

Ning Qing smiled calmly: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I won't go to the battlefield, so nothing will happen."

The crown prince only found out about it when he heard about it from Emperor Xiangfeng when he was in court, and Ning Kecheng naturally didn't know about it.Before leaving, Ning Qing deliberately went to Ning Mansion to bid farewell. Ning Ke accepted the righteousness, and although she was worried, she still let him go, but told him to be careful again.

It turned out that Ning Qing didn't intend to take Lin Rong with him, but when he was talking to Fei Tian, ​​he accidentally let him overhear him, so he begged for nothing, letting him go whatever he said.

"Last time, my son said that he would be back in a short time after going to southern Xinjiang, but it turned out that he had been there for nearly two months. This time, the war in southern Xinjiang may take longer." Lin Rong relied on 20 years of experience in dealing with Ning Qing, as well as The tragic lesson I was taught last time has already learned well this time, and I have seen through his tricks, "Don't talk about returning to the imperial capital after delivering the soldier talisman, with your son's temperament, how can you abandon him and come back alone before the war subsides? .”

"What..." Ning Qing was a little embarrassed to be exposed, but Fei Tian stared at him suspiciously, and said firmly, "You know me."

Helpless, Ning Qing finally took Lin Rong to the southern border together, but there were three chapters agreed in advance.

"As I said before, there is no good treatment here. Food and clothing are not as good as the government's. Maybe when there is a shortage of food, you have to use this fat body when necessary."

Lin Rong was silent for a moment, Ning Qing thought he was hesitating, but he didn't expect that he was determined to follow this time, and said fearlessly: "It doesn't matter, the small ones have a lot of meat, and they can be hungry for a few more days."

...

At night, twelve guards were ready to go, and all of them were on horseback for the journey.Three hours after leaving Yanzhou, I arrived in Changzhou at the dawn of the sky and took a rest in the city.

Seeing that Ning Qing was going out with Lin Rong, Fei Tian asked, "Where is Brother Lan Yu going?"

"Go to Changzhou Wusi to transfer troops."

Transfer troops?After Fei Tian realized it, he quickly followed and went with him.

At first Ning Qing also wondered why Wei Yao didn't take him with him, why he was asked to send the soldier amulet this time, and he realized it when he looked at the map before departure.On the way to southern Xinjiang, he had to pass through several states, all of which were well-managed. In addition, Gyeongju was short of troops, so the Tiger Talisman was needed for the purpose of mobilizing troops.Wei Yao asked him to go by name, apparently in order to escort the tiger talisman, but actually wanted him to gather all the troops on the way, saving the waste of tossing back and forth, so as not to miss the military plane.

Before dawn, there were only two guards in front of the gate of Wusi in Changzhou. They were drowsy. When Ning Qing and Fei Tian arrived in front of them, their upper and lower eyelids were still drumming. Each clicked.

"Who, who is it?" The guard opened his sleepy eyes and was startled when he saw the three of them, and then remembered to put on a pose, "Who are you? What are you doing here so early in the morning?"

Ning Qing glanced at him, looked straight ahead and said: "Pass the military order of General Zhenbei, and dispatch troops with the Tiger Talisman. Where is your military envoy? Let him come to see me."

The guards looked at each other suspiciously, thinking where did this lunatic come from, and came here early in the morning to play wild.

Ning Qing was too lazy to talk to them, so he took out the waist badge from his sleeve and gave it to them.

Before leaving, Zhu Yu said that he had no official position and it was inconvenient to go abroad, so he gave him a waist card to help him act smoothly.

The guard took a look at the waist badge. The golden statue was inlaid with jade, surrounded by dragons with a word "Zhu".The two of them broke out in a cold sweat, and their sleepiness had long since vanished. They hurriedly knelt down to salute, and raised their hands to return the waist badge. They begged: "My lord, forgive me."

Ning Qing tucked the badge back into his sleeve, and said, "Don't dawdle, go and ask the military envoy."

Ning Qing was brought to the main hall, and after waiting for a while, the military commander hurriedly buttoned up his clothes and rushed to kneel down in front of him: "I have met you, sir, but I don't know what to call you?"

"Don't ask those useless people, you just need to know that I am from the government of An Guo. Now that the southern border is short of troops, General Zhenbei specially asked me to transfer troops. This is a tiger charm. Please arrange the transfer of troops immediately after reading it. "

Ning Qing winked at Lin Rong, and Lin Rong took out the brocade box from his arms and handed it to the military envoy.He swallowed dryly, and carefully opened the brocade box, revealing the black jade talisman, with several loose lines leading to the back, gathered into a "Wei" character.In the past, some people said that "Wei" refers to the Great Wei, but since the founding of the country, the tiger charms have been in the hands of the Wei family, so some people say that "Wei" originally referred to the Wei family, but in the end it is just speculation, what is the truth? No one knows.

There is a way to identify this tiger talisman. Legend has it that Wei Yao's father accidentally knocked the tiger talisman when he was fighting in Xirong, so there was a small gap on the surface of the tiger talisman.He put the brocade box back on, returned it to Lin Rong, leaned over and shouted: "Your Majesty will obey the order and arrange it immediately."

Changzhou is the barrier of the imperial capital, and there are plenty of troops and horses. In order to gather [-] soldiers and horses, Ning Qing immediately led the army to the south, passed through four places, gathered [-] soldiers and horses, and went straight to Qingzhou.

-

Gyeongju.

Seven days ago, spies came to report that there were [-] soldiers in Jiazhou City, and another [-] were stationed outside Xuanyu Pass for emergency use.Wei Yao wrote to the imperial court and handed over the matter of increasing troops to Ning Qing. He is a transparent man and must understand his intentions.

These days, Wei Yao didn't let his flag down, and let the Wei army walk around the city gate from time to time, and retreated after fighting for half an hour, as if teasing the Nanman army. There were not many casualties, but the Nanman army was very angry.

Two days ago, there was a reply from Beijiang that Nanman's artillery was indeed made by Beidi, and Bu Na's intention to sell the newly made artillery to the Nanman king was clearly revealed, and only that idiot Sun Yin thought he had picked up the big one. cheap.

Ning Qing left Fei Tian behind and asked him to lead the army, while he himself led Lin Rong to the Gyeongju camp, and met Zhao Min who was about to pay back the bill. Seeing him shocked, Ning Qing stopped him and covered his mouth in time : "Shh, don't make a sound."

Zhao Min stared wide-eyed and nodded, waiting for him to let go before asking: "Why did you come here so fast?"

"I'll take a step ahead. The army is resting by the Luoshui River and will arrive tomorrow morning." Ning Qing looked around for a week and asked him in a low voice, "Which camp is your general in?"

Zhao Min hesitated to point him in a direction, Ning Qing smiled slightly, returned Lin Rong to him, and said, "Please General Zhao to find a place for Lin Rong."

After all, before Zhao Min could respond, Ning Qing walked lightly towards the direction he just pointed.

Zhao Min turned his head and asked Lin Rong: "Young master, are you so impatient?"

While Lin Rong couldn't laugh or cry over being left behind, he still didn't forget to defend his master, glaring at Zhao Min: "Nonsense."

The military equipment supervisor who accompanied the army drew a precise picture of the artillery, and Wei Yao was studying this picture when he was not leading the army these days.At night, the lamp was lit in the tent, and he leaned against the dim light to read the military book, smelling something unusual in the silence, and raised his eyes slightly.

...

Ning Qing peeked into the tent with his head poking around, and it seemed that he had fallen asleep.He tiptoed to the couch, and he couldn't see where the person was in the darkness. He stretched out his hand to touch the person's wrist, but he was grabbed forcefully before he touched the person's wrist. He turned over and was pressed on the couch, his back was slightly stiff The bed is a bit painful.

He groaned: "I came all the way, is that what you did to me?"

Wei Yao made a joke on him, then let go, and lay down beside him: "If it's someone else, his life is gone now, and my subordinates are already taking care of themselves."

Ning Qing rubbed her right wrist and asked, "When did you know it was me?"

"Fairly."

Tsk, ambiguous.

"How did you recognize it?"

"Feel."

"Heh." Ning Qing sneered, wondering when he would talk nonsense.

The two lay quietly for a while, and Wei Yao asked him, "Are you tired from the bumpy journey?"

"I didn't feel it just now, but it seems that I can fall asleep immediately when I lie down." Ning Qing closed her eyes, her thoughts gradually drifted away, and the words became lighter and lighter afterward.

"Well, it's late at night, go to sleep, we'll talk about it tomorrow." Wei Yao didn't wait for him to reply, and covered him with the quilt on his side, just about to get up, hands