Xiao Qiao enters the farm gate

When the dark tide surged in the capital, Qiao Mo was still imprisoned in the carriage no matter day or night, and drove along the bumpy road.Although Qiao Mo thought of running away all the time, he knew that he should not act rashly. If Situ Xuan was provoked to be more cautious and even tied him up, the hope of escape would be even smaller.

About five or six days later, the carriage stopped at dusk.

In the past, he would stop for a while for a day or two, mostly for supplies or for other people to rest their feet. Although those people were well-trained and never said a word of nonsense, his ears were sensitive. After a few days of confirmation, he judged from the sound of breathing and footsteps. There are twenty people in this group.They pretended to be a caravan, with four cars in a row. Except for Qiao Mo, which was a carriage, the others were all carts for pulling goods. There were four drivers driving the carts, six servants, and ten others on horses. Bodyguard of the Guard.

I thought I would continue on my way today after stopping for a while, but Situ Xuan got out of the car, and then reached out to him: "Ah Mo, are you tired all the way? You don't dare to go on the road tonight, you can take a good rest."

Qiao Mo was slightly startled, things that did not conform to common sense always made him more vigilant, although he did not accept the opponent's hand, he got out of the car cooperatively.

Only then did I see the environment clearly.

There is no shop in front of the village, but there is a small inn standing on the side of the road, which seems to be quite old.There were also several cars outside the inn, and there were two tables of people sitting in the lobby. They seemed to be merchants on the road, and they had to rest for a while and have a meal before continuing on their way.

It was still very conspicuous for their group to come in, but other people just looked at it. Although there was only one inn here, there were many merchants coming and going, but not all of them would work in this simple inn.

Someone had already arranged for the check-in, so Situ Xuan took him up to the second floor and entered a room at the end of the corridor.Surprisingly, this room looks simple, but the bedding and curtains on the bed are all brand new, and the tea cup wardrobe is also readily available, obviously arranged in advance.That's right, since Situ Xuan endured it for so long before escaping, how could he not have planned in advance, but this made Qiao Mo's possibility of escaping once again reduced.

"You take a rest first, I'll have someone bring hot water, and we'll have dinner later." Situ Xuan finished talking to him softly, and went out, and then the door closed, and he was the only one left in the room.

He knew that there must be someone guarding the door.

First look around the house, and then open the window to look outside.Not to mention that the height of the second floor made him difficult, even if he ran out of the inn, where would he go?He doesn't know how to ride a horse, even if he knows how to ride, there is no hope. The people Situxuan leads must be confidant elites. In the eyes of those people, he is like a waste of physical strength. If he gets out of the inn by chance, he will be caught up immediately.

I was worrying, but I seemed to hear some sound in the distance. I listened carefully, and there was indeed a sound, the sound of water!

There is a river not far from the inn.

Qiao Mo didn't know much about the world, such as the geographical location of the prefectures, counties, capitals, etc., his eyes were completely dimmed.Situ Xuan's people are all tight-lipped and basically don't talk to each other, so he doesn't know where the convoy is going, let alone where he is. He just knows that he must not be taken to Situ Xuan's destination, otherwise...

It's not a waste of time to get along with the car all the time these few days, at least he knows that Situ Xuan must be making a new arrangement at this moment, and he probably won't be back in half an hour.Based on the speed and time of the itinerary, he roughly judged that if he continued to walk, he would leave the customs. Situ Xuan was a traitor, and he must go as far as possible to escape the imperial court's encirclement and arrest. He also guessed whether he was going to the Northland.

I have a vague feeling that if I want to escape, tonight is the only chance.

Qiao Mo thought quickly and made up his mind, placing his hope on the invisible river.As long as you escape and jump into the river, you will be able to get as far away from the inn as possible under the cover of the night and the river. There must be news in the capital that the court wants to arrest Situ Xuan, and Situ Xuan may not be willing to spend too much time no matter how crazy he is. Go search yourself.And as long as he swims along the river and finds a village or town to hide, the Qi family will always find him.

Just as he made up his mind to take risks, he caught a glimpse of a figure standing at the corner of the downstairs from the corner of his eye. He was terrified, but he ignored that even if he was on the second floor, the prudent Situ Xuan would not be negligent. There are people, there are people at the front door, and even more arrangements will be made at the back.

Qiao Mo didn't want to give up, his mind turned quickly, and the only way he could think of was to make a fool of himself and divert the tiger away from the mountain.

Immediately rummaging in the space, fortunately, I found half of an uneaten piece of chocolate from the space, probably left over from a trip, and I can just use it.He seems to remember that chocolate is a stimulant for horses, and this high concentration of dark chocolate should work well.

Situ Xuan didn't come back, so he opened the door and went out, and said to the people outside: "It's been too long in the car, my bones hurt, I want to take a walk down here."

"My lord, please." The man didn't stop him, but just followed closely.

Qiao Mo didn't care, wandered around the inn, and then walked to the backyard where the carriage was parked.He didn't say what to do, and the people behind him didn't ask. When he came down, he took a book in his hand, and under the cover of the book, he threw all the broken chocolates into the horse's stone trough, and then went back to the room.

The inn delivered hot water, Situ Xuan also prepared a change of clothes for him, and then the door closed again.

At this time, the night has fallen, except for this inn, the whole field is pitch-black, and there is not even a little starlight.It just so happens that Qiao Mo's eyesight is much better than that of ordinary people, even those who have been trained may not be as good as him, and this kind of night just serves as a cover for him.

It has been delayed for a long time, and there will be no chance any later.

In the name of taking a bath, Qiao Mo could procrastinate for some time, gently opened the window, only waited for the neighing of the horse from the stable, and immediately slid down the stairs grabbing the rope made of sheets and curtains.Although only one horse was excited and manic after eating chocolate, there were quite a few horses in the stable, and they would soon start shouting, and everyone in the inn was attracted to it.

As soon as Qiao Mo hit the ground, he ran away, not daring to look back.

When they ran into the woods, there was the sound of horseshoes not far behind - Situ Xuan found out!

Qiao Mo gritted his teeth and continued to run. The sound of the river was getting closer and closer, but just as he was about to arrive, the sound of the horse's hooves was close to his ears. Immediately afterwards, an arm caught him and dragged him onto the horse's back.

"Let go!" Qiao Mo was not reconciled to being defeated, and struggled hard.

"How dare you run away!" The strength in Situ Xuan's hand was astonishing. You didn't need to look to know that your body must be bruised, but Qiao Mo didn't care about crying out for pain. At this time, Situ Xuan's tone was obviously wrong. The cold eyes flickering in the eyes are particularly permeating.

Qiao Mo felt the strong malice and bursts of tyranny emanating from the opponent, and in a panic, a dagger slipped from his hand, the scabbard fell off, and he stabbed Situ Xuan in an instant.

"You..." Situ Xuan's eyes were full of horror, no wonder he was unprepared, he was emotionally unstable just now and was a bit crazy, not to mention that since he was kidnapped, he has been searched a long time ago, who would have thought that he still had a dagger hidden on his body Woolen cloth.

This dagger was bought for self-defense before, but when he was taken into captivity, he knew he couldn't resist, so he hid the dagger in the space in advance, just in case.It is really used now.

At this moment, Qiao Mo's mind was a little blank, and he only knew that he had to escape.

Grab the dagger tightly and push it forward again.

Situxuan's mouth overflowed with blood, and it dripped into Qiao Mo's hand, but suddenly he chuckled: "You are seeking revenge on me, I..."

Qiao Mo had already heard several horses approaching, so he didn't dare to delay, so he pushed Situ Xuan, who was out of breath, and immediately rolled off the horse.When his arm hit the ground, he bumped hard, didn't have time to pay attention to it, got up and ran to the river, and jumped down without hesitation.

He was very close to Situ Xuan just now, when the dagger pierced past, it just hit the chest, and he used another force behind him, and he clearly felt that the dagger was almost completely gone, even if it was slightly away from the heart. Also seriously injured.Regardless of whether Situ Xuan can live or not, those people will definitely take Situ Xuan more seriously and will treat him immediately instead of looking for him.

Despite the analysis, Qiao Mo did not dare to be careless, and kept swimming forward, not daring to stop even if his limbs were numb from exhaustion.

After an unknown period of time, Qiao Mo couldn't swim anymore, so he found a flat place to go ashore.

There are still trees here, and we can't tell the direction. Even though it's midsummer, it's extremely cold when the night wind blows.Reluctantly find a leeward place, pick up some dead branches and leaves, find the lighter used in camping from the space and light it up, and then take off the test clothes. Unfortunately, there is no clothes in the space, but there is a blanket to wrap it in.Put the fitting clothes to bake by the fire, curled up in the blanket under the warm firelight, panicked and tired, fell asleep after a while.

When Qiao Mo woke up again, it was already the next morning, and he felt sore all over his body even if he moved a little, and his head was also dizzy.I reached out and touched my forehead, it was hot, it seemed that I had a fever.

The fire had been put out and the clothes were drying.

After changing his clothes and tidying up his hair a little, he tentatively walked out of the woods to see where he was and if he could find someone.He was lucky, and he found a hunter's hut after walking not far. Inside the house, a father and son were walking towards him with two pheasants.Qiao Mo guessed that they were going to the river to collect prey, and saw that both father and son had simple and honest looks, with clear eyes, and their vigilance relaxed a little.

After inquiring about them, Qiao Mo realized that this place is very remote.Going out on a long mountain road, you can see a village. It takes more than half an hour to get from the village to the town. The town is not big, and it is farther into the county.

The county here is called Yu County, which is only a medium-sized place, far away from the capital, and equally far from Jincheng.Qiao Mo couldn't help wondering, didn't Situ Xuan plan to go to Beidi?

Qiao Mo went to the town in a bullock cart first, bought some half-worn plain clothes from a tailor shop, and put on a bamboo hat, then went to the only tea shop in the town.Sitting in the shop, I ordered two steamed buns from the stall next door, ate with tea and listened to the people chatting in the teahouse.

Qiao Mo felt a lot more relaxed when he heard that checkpoints were set up on the same roads between cities, counties, and towns. Outsiders thought he was the heinous murderer who had caught a massacre in a certain place, but he knew that this was just an external rhetoric, but it was actually aimed at Situ Xuan went.

He doesn't have an identity document on him, and he can't even leave the town, what should he do?

When pouring the third bowl of tea, I suddenly remembered that the place "Yu County" was a bit familiar. It seemed that someone had mentioned it. After thinking for a long time, I finally remembered that there was an official in the Lin family who was the county magistrate in Yu County.Suppressing his excitement, he first inquired about the county magistrate's name with the owner of the tea shop, and when he learned that the county magistrate's name was indeed Lin Qing, he immediately had an idea.

Qiao Mo went directly to the place where the checkpoint was set up outside the town, and said that he was the younger brother of the county magistrate Lin, named Lin Zheng.He also said that he encountered robbers on the way to visit relatives, lost everything and lost his identity document, but County Magistrate Lin could guarantee him.

The person on duty here is the county yamen servant, seeing that he is a little brother, he was a little less suspicious, and asked some basic information, which was all right, so someone took him to the county yamen.

Recently, Lin Qing was busy cooperating with the official documents issued by the imperial court to strictly check the passing merchants, when he suddenly heard that his brother had been found, he couldn't help being puzzled.Hearing that the name was Lin Zheng again, his heart skipped a beat and he hurriedly invited him in.

After all, Lin Qing was an official, and he knew the current situation of this younger brother in the family. Lin Zheng had already been entrusted with an official post and went to Jincheng, how could he come to Yu County?Pretending to be Lin Zheng, knowing so much about his situation, and meeting himself... Many kinds of guesses had already flashed through Lin Qing's mind.If he knew that Qiao Mo was taken into captivity, he might have guessed it, but because of Qi Yun's relationship, when the court issued the document, it only said that Situ Xuan had taken the hostages. .

When Qiao Mo came in and took off the bamboo hat, Lin Qing was taken aback.

"You are……"

"My name is Qiao Mo, and I am Mrs. Lin Zhengfu."

"You, aren't you in the capital?" Something seemed to flash through Lin Qing's mind, but he didn't catch it.

"Can you trouble my brother to deliver a letter to the Qi mansion in the capital?" Qiao Mo also asked the yamen servant along the way, knowing that he had not been fully disclosed about his abduction, so he avoided the other party's questioning.As for whether you guessed it or not, that doesn't matter.

Seeing this, Lin Qing stopped asking any more questions, and took a pen and paper. After Qiao Mo finished writing the letter, he immediately called capable people and sent the letter to the capital as quickly as possible on a fast horse.Qiao Mo thought that he would swim down the river to Yu County, and he would not be able to go far in one night. Situ Xuan didn't know if he was alive or dead, so he might as well take this opportunity to catch him, otherwise he would be in fear after all.

After Lin Qing ordered someone to tidy up the guest room for him and came back, Qiao Mo said cryptically: "I heard that checkpoints are set up in various places to strictly investigate the most vicious criminals. Nowadays, criminals are very cunning, and they like to pretend to be caravans the most. I will come From time to time, I heard people talking about it from a tea shop. There was a caravan in a place called Changsong Inn. There were 20 people. No matter the guys or bodyguards who followed, all of them looked different from ordinary people. Maybe they were thieves from somewhere. .”

He only remembered the name of the inn, but he really didn't know the exact location of the inn, but Lin Qing was the county magistrate, so he would know it.

Lin Qing was slightly taken aback for a moment, then understood what he meant, and immediately turned serious. He only had a hasty confession to him, and then hurriedly summoned the manpower. In addition, he had to send someone to report to the magistrate immediately, and then dispatched troops to assist Otherwise, it would not be enough to rely solely on the county yamen servants to catch them quickly.Lin Qing, the county magistrate, is quite competent. Many places in the county know about it, and even went to it in person. The Changsong Inn is on the side of the road between the two counties. The county rests.

Qiao Mo came to the guest room, went to bed and fell asleep after a while.

Now that he is in the county government office, he is much safer, and he only needs to wait for someone from the capital to pick him up.

Lin Qing didn't come back for three whole days. This is good news, which means that the whereabouts of that group of people were indeed found.Qiao Mo has nothing to do every day, and he always thinks of the scene of stabbing the dagger into Situxuan's chest that night. It seems that he can still feel the warm and sticky feeling of the other party's blood dripping on his hand, which made him relax just now. The mood is also depressed.

He wanted Situ Xuan to die, but when the other party died, it meant that he had killed someone.

Even if the other party has hatred towards him, and he has resentment and fear towards him, he can kill...he has never killed anyone before, and he still uses this direct and ruthless way.

Eight days later, Qi Wei arrived.

"Brother Cheng." Qi Wei has always been steady, and his face was full of fatigue due to traveling day and night. After meeting Qiao Mo, he looked him up and down carefully, and then heaved a sigh of relief. "Father can't get away because he has to take care of the affairs of the court, so he specially asked me to pick you up."

"I'm fine. Cousin Lao is worried." Qiao Mo had already calmed down, his expression was very calm, and he just asked, "Did you get caught?"

A strange look flashed in Qi Wei's eyes, and He Yun and He Yu who accompanied him stayed outside, and said in a low voice, "We caught them, and they are all the confidantes of King Kangjun. None of them were missed, but King Kangjun is dead. We found him." At that time, his body was in the room of the Changsong Inn, with a dagger stuck in his chest, and he had already passed away. Probably seeing that he was dead, the people below divided up the belongings that accompanied him and fled around. "

Despite expectations, Qiao Mo was still a little dazed when he actually heard the exact news.

"Brother Cheng, is that dagger yours?" Qi Wei's words were like asking if he killed King Kang.

Qiao Mo nodded.

Qi Wei pursed his lips and said, "You can't say anything about this matter. Whenever you mention it in the future, you can say that you didn't know about King Kang's death. He was fine when you ran away."

"This... But those people know." Although Qiao Mo didn't understand why he was hiding it for a while, he still felt that it was wrong. It's just that Situ Xuan's subordinates could guess it even if they didn't see it with their own eyes.

Qi Wei smiled lightly, as if seeing Qi Yun in a daze, and said softly and coldly: "The twenty people did not know what crime they committed, fifteen of them died, and three of the five caught were seriously injured. They They are going to be escorted back to the capital, and there is no right to try them here, and the road back to Beijing will be long, they either died of serious injuries or committed suicide, it is not easy to reach the capital alive.”

Qiao Mo acquiesced to this approach.

He suddenly realized that although King Kang had committed the crime of treason and death, he was still the king of the royal family and was closely related to the emperor.Even if the emperor hated him so much that he even ordered him to die?In short, a royal county king must not die in his hands.This is easy to understand, just like a family member who made a mistake, you can teach yourself a lesson, if someone else does it for you, not only will you not be thanked but will attract complaints, let alone the royal family.

Seeing that he seemed to understand, Qi Wei didn't explain, but asked, "Do you know where King Kang is going?"

Qiao Mo shook his head and asked back: "Don't those people know? I only stopped at the Changsong Inn on this journey, and stayed in the carriage for the rest of the day. Situ Xuan didn't mention where he was going at all, and those people didn't know each other. If you don't talk, if Situ Xuan has any orders, he will carry me behind his back."

Qi Wei couldn't help frowning: "It seems that he arrived at a place and then issued an order. The final location must have been arranged long ago. Unfortunately, he is dead. I'm afraid it will be difficult to know."

Qiao Mo didn't care about this, as long as Situ Xuan died, he would be safe.

"By the way, is Situ Xuan's carriage still there? There is a glazed vase on the carriage, which is, it contains my aunt's ashes."

Qi Wei was startled, then his face was full of anger, and he calmed down his anger before comforting him: "Don't worry, the carriage is in the county government office, and it was originally meant to be brought back to the capital. I'll find a chance to get it later."

Qiao Mo nodded: "I miss An An, let's go back to the capital earlier."

"Well, after I arrange the follow-up matters, I will leave after lunch." Qi Wei went out after speaking, leaving He Yun and He Yu behind.

Qiao Mo noticed that He Yu's legs were not very flexible when he walked, and after asking, he found out that he was injured when he was robbed, and he has recovered.Even though it was their job to be guards, Qiao Mo still felt a little guilty because others were injured or even almost lost their lives.

After arriving in the capital, Qi Wei had to go to the palace to report his official duties, so Qiao Mo went to Qi's house first.

Seeing him come back, everyone in the Qi family was very excited, even the servants were beaming with joy.Maybe outsiders don't know that he was kidnapped, but the aristocratic families in the capital know that it is not easy to come back.Qiao Mo was surrounded by uncle Jiang and others to ask questions and care deeply, and went to see the old man again to reassure the old man, and then hugged An An.

Seeing An Anhao's Xiang Tian who had no sleep, her heart was finally at ease.

Suddenly remembered something, hurriedly asked Uncle: "Does Ah Zheng know about me?"

"I didn't tell him, don't worry." Border wars are already dangerous, so how dare you use this news to distract Lin Zheng from worrying.

"That's good." Qiao Mo was relieved.

Then Qi Yun also came back from the palace, and kept saying that he was careless at the beginning, if he had been more thoughtful, Qiao Mo would not have suffered this time.After seeing Qi Nan's ashes, his emotions became even more out of control.In the end, this matter was hidden from the old lady. He just waited for a suitable day to open the coffin and bury Qi Nan's ashes with Mo Wenxuan. gossip.Qi Nan is no longer here, and Qi Yun doesn't want her elder brother to die, and she doesn't feel at ease.

In addition, regarding the death of King Kangjun, Qi Yun and Qi Wei had the same meaning, but Qi Wei was young and did not do things well enough. Qi Yun described it carefully, and the key was to change the dagger.At first glance, they look similar, but they are not at all the same.Qiao Mo's dagger was bought from a shop, with an ordinary handle and scabbard, and the one Qi Yun replaced seemed simple and unpretentious, but it was actually Situ Xuan's dagger, unique.

As for those who knew the truth, as Qi Wei said, on the way to Beijing, they either died of serious injuries or committed suicide.The outsiders didn't doubt it, just because everyone knew their fate. If they went to the capital, they would die, and they would die of torture.Only in this way, everyone including Qi Wei will have to bear the crime of being unfavorable for escort.

After the dust settled, Qiao Mo resumed his previous rhythm of life.

In mid-October, there was a sudden victory at the border, and the capital was boiling.

Qiao Mo learned the news after being called to Qi's house. He was stunned and asked in disbelief, "Great victory? We won? Did you mean we won the battle? Then they are coming back?"

"Yes, that's right, it's a great victory. We have won the battle!" Jiang nodded repeatedly to confirm, with a proud and joyful smile all over his face.

Not only the Jiang family, but the whole Qi family, inside and outside the capital, and the whole country were all happy.How long has it been?It took more than half a year to win the battle. The soldiers could go home and reunite after the war, and the people no longer suffered.

At the end of the month, the expedition team returned to Beijing, led by the emperor's dragon, the gates of the city opened, and the common people spontaneously came out of the city to greet them on their knees, shouting long live.The emperor was also very happy. He stopped at the gate of the city and immediately issued a verbal order.

Qiao Mo didn't go to the city gate, but the big battle at the gate also spread to his mouth.

He looked at the gate from time to time, knowing that Lin Zheng would not come back so soon after entering the capital, but he still couldn't stop looking around.An An is now nine months old, and it is also the time when she loves to move and play. With the support of Hsinchu, she keeps walking around and laughing excitedly.

"Looking at how happy the young master is, he must know that the uncle is coming back." Hsinchu saw his behavior and deliberately joked.

Qiao Mo just wanted to fight back, but he saw Liu Shi running in like a gust of wind, while running, he smiled and congratulated: "Congratulations, young master! Congratulations, young master! Just now I went to find out the news, and I met someone from the Qi family on the way, saying that the uncle has been rewarded." Shangqi Duwei, a fifth-rank honorary officer."

Qiao Mo didn't know much about honor officers, and seeing that the servants were happy, he ordered Hsinchu to reward them.

After a while, someone came in from outside the door, it was still not Lin Zheng, but Qi Ke.

"Cousin, I just came back from the palace and I want to tell you a big news. Brother Lin Zheng actually declined the official given by the emperor. He doesn't even want the fourth grade." Said a pass.

"Please explain clearly, what's going on?" Qiao Mo was completely confused by the two messages.

Qi Ke said with a smile: "Brother Lin Zheng has made great achievements in this battle, and he will definitely be promoted in terms of merit and reward. What's more, Brother Lin Zheng also has the merit of saving people, so although it is given to a fourth-rank official, the court will definitely be promoted." There was still little objection, but brother Lin Zheng refused on the spot." Qi Ke scratched his face as he spoke, as if he didn't quite understand: "I heard from the prince that brother Lin Zheng said that he has no ability to be an official, and he is afraid of being an official. He wanted to be dismissed and returned to the land because he became an official, wasted food, and lived up to the emperor’s salary. The emperor didn’t say anything at the time, and asked the ministers’ opinions, and finally agreed to Brother Lin Zheng’s request, but said that he must be rewarded for his merits. A fifth-rank honorary officer. This honorary officer only cares about his salary."

Qiao Mo heard it clearly this time, he let out a long breath, and at the same time felt relieved, he was even more grateful to Lin Zheng for his kindness.

He understood that although Lin Zheng didn't know how to be an official, he was born with nothing.If it wasn't because he didn't want to stay in the capital, Lin Zheng might not have continued his official career, and he might not have gradually learned to be an official.

"The uncle is back! The uncle is back!"

When Liu Shi happily ran in to report again, a familiar figure walked in right behind him.

Qiao Mo stood up and looked at the people a few steps away.After experiencing the flames of war, Lin Zheng became more calm and resolute. Although he lost some weight, his breath became more and more awe-inspiring, like a beast out of a cage. Now, no one who saw him would think he was a farmer.

Qiao Mo picked up An An and put it in his arms, An An was not afraid, but stared at Lin Zheng very curiously, and touched his face dishonestly with a pair of small hands.Even though Lin Zheng looked scary on the outside, his eyes were soft.

"Amo, I'm back."

"It's just in time to come back, and we can rush back to Shanglin Village to celebrate the New Year." Qiao Mo stretched out his hand and held Lin Zheng's big rough hand tightly, the corners of his mouth couldn't help rising. He felt that there was nothing better than the warmth of holding hands at this moment.

(End of the article)