Xiao Qiao enters the farm gate

The figure in front walked very quickly, wearing an old coat of brown coarse cloth, with a bamboo hat on his head, the hat was lowered down, and his head was lowered, walking in such a hurry that people couldn't see his appearance. At first glance, others only thought he was a poor man In a hurry.

Qiao Mo, however, felt the familiarity at a glance, and his body reacted the fastest, trotting to follow.Just as Qiao Mo wanted to tell the person to stop, so as to see if it was the person he was thinking of, he saw the other person dodging into a small alley.Qiao Mo didn't think much at all, and turned right in.

After entering the alley, he just turned a corner, and before he could see the situation clearly, he heard a strong wind passing by his ears. Seeing that the knife hand was about to cut the back of the neck, it stopped abruptly when it was about to touch the neck.

"Ah Mo?!" A voice of surprise came from under the bamboo hat.

"...Lin Zheng? Ah Zheng! It's really you?!" Qiao Mo immediately forgot his fear when he heard the familiar voice, and lifted the bamboo hat the other party was wearing, and he saw the face he hadn't seen for a long time.Maybe it was too sudden, or maybe it was a long-awaited moment, but he didn't know what to say when the moment of reunion really came. He just felt hot, swollen and sore in his eyes.

"I'm back." Lin Zheng felt distressed and guilty when he saw his appearance.

When Lin Zheng left, he was getting fatter and rounder due to his pregnancy. Although he had given birth at this time, his day and night worries caused him to eat poorly, he was obviously thinner, and his complexion was not very good.

"It's good to be back, it's good to be back." Qiao Mo murmured a few words in a low voice, and slowly calmed down, and finally discovered his abnormality. "You, why are you dressed like this? You are now..."

Lin Zheng put on the hat again, and quickly whispered, "Ah Mo, I have to go see Master Qi quickly, the news of my return should not spread."

Qiao Mo thought of the previous guesses, nodded his head to express his understanding: "I see, you go back first, I will go to the candy store first, and then go back to the house, so as not to be suspicious." After thinking about it, he added: "You don't Go out of this alley and take a detour in another direction, I'm afraid someone will see you."

Qiao Mo was mainly worried about Situ Xuan, who knows if that person is watching him.

Lin Zheng nodded, and didn't care about talking to him, he just said "See you in the Qi family", then turned and left in a hurry.

Qiao Mo stood there for a while, then gathered his mood and turned back out of the alley.Standing at the entrance of the alley, Qiao Mo looked around carefully, and there seemed to be no suspicious-looking people.I went back to the shop as planned before, handed over the cake to the customer, and took the new order after the customer was satisfied and left, and then I was going to go back to Qi's house by car.

Just at this time, a person he least wanted to see at this moment came in outside the shop - Situ Xuan!

The dress of Situ Xuan seen today is completely different from that in Fengcheng. Although he did not wear the clothes of the county king, the precious materials, exquisite embroidery, and even the rarity of the clothes all showed his honorable status.To do business in the capital, you must have good eyesight. If you meet someone on the street, it is likely that they are not relatives of the emperor but also high officials in the court. Therefore, all high-end shops will recognize people, and many of them will recognize some important people.

As soon as Situxuan came in, the shopkeeper sitting in the shop rushed up to greet him, with a smile all over his face: "Kang County King is here, the shop is full of luxuriant plants, please come from the County King." While talking, he urged the waiter to serve good tea .

Situ Xuan waved his hand indifferently, and walked straight to Qiao Mo in the corner: "The shopkeeper is busy with you, I just came to stroll around."

The shopkeeper's eyes were discerning, and he knew Qiao Mo's identity. Seeing that the two seemed to have something to say, he didn't dare to stay in the way, so he quickly asked the waiter to avoid it.

"Uncle Shi is here to buy candy?" Qiao Mo quickly put his emotions back together after being interrupted by the shopkeeper just now, and now he looks the same as before. "When I just came to the capital, I heard that Uncle Shi was ill and he took care of it for a long time, but now he's healed?"

"Well, it's alright, so I took advantage of the good weather today to go out for a walk, my bones are rusted after lying down for so long." Situ Xuan asked about his current situation again, inevitably mentioning Lin Zheng.

Qiao Mo lowered his eyes and lowered his voice a little: "Uncle said something happened to Ah Zheng's caravan, and now it's parked in the north and can't come back, and we won't be able to come back until some time later. I'm also worried about him, but now I'm leaving too. No, otherwise I will look for it myself. There is nothing to do here, and it is really boring to stay in the yard all the time, so I asked my uncle for help, started my old business, and passed the time."

This remark was discussed by Qi Yun and him, specifically to prevent Situ Xuan from asking. After all, going to the North to spy on information is a secret move of the imperial court, but Zhao Changming's caravan itinerary is well-documented. At this point Lying to cover up is certainly foolish.

"It's good if you can see more." Situ Xuan knocked him down and looked him indifferently, making Qiao Mo's hair stand on end, and he almost didn't tense his face. Fortunately, Situ Xuan's eyes returned to normal soon. "You don't want to tell me if you want to do business, I have to come to support you anyway. The small cake you made tastes good, but now this big cake is even more interesting. It just so happens that the husband of the old county king in the house loves sweets Soft things, you go to the county prince's mansion tomorrow and make a big fresh cake, I'll give him a surprise."

Qiao Mo's heart skipped a beat.

After calming down, Qiao Mo was a little embarrassed: "I'm afraid I won't be free tomorrow, so can I do it a day later?"

"What do you want?" Situ Xuan asked inquiringly.

"It's nothing serious. It's just that I promised my cousin that I'll make a cake for his brother tomorrow, so it's hard to refuse." The Jiang family did mention this matter, but the time has not been finalized, in order to deal with Situ Xuan for the time being. , I will talk to Jiang when I go back today.

Then it happened that just after Lin Zheng came back, Situ Xuan asked him to go to Kang County Prince's Mansion, even if it was a coincidence, he couldn't help but think about it.

Situxuan didn't force it, and he said that he would come to the door the day after tomorrow according to his wishes.

Seeing Situ Xuan leave, Qiao Mo didn't stay too long, and immediately went back to Qi's house by car.

After returning to Qi's house, he didn't dare to relax immediately. After thinking for a while, he went back to the small courtyard first.He reckoned that although Lin Zheng had returned, in order not to reveal his whereabouts, he would not show up even if he was within Qi's family, so he couldn't go looking for someone ostentatiously.

After waiting anxiously for about half an hour, someone finally came to invite him to Qi Yun's study.

When the door of the study room was closed, a familiar person came out from behind the curtain: "Ah Mo."

It was only at this moment that Qiao Mo's heart finally settled down, and he was convinced that the hasty encounter on the street was not a fantasy or a dream.

Qi Yun and Lin Zheng had already finished talking about business matters, and now they had to hurry into the palace. They also knew that they would have a lot to say when they reunited after a long absence. When they left, they told Lin Zheng to stay in the study for now and not to go out, and three meals a day would be delivered by a special person. Come.He also said that he was going to the palace to face the saint right now, and he was afraid that the emperor would announce Lin Zheng and ask Lin Zheng to make preparations first.

As soon as Qi Yun left, Lin Zheng held Qiao Mo's hand, couldn't stop looking him up and down, and said after a while, "Master said you gave birth to a boy. I've been away all this time, thank you for your hard work."

Qiao Mo sneered and said, "It's just this time anyway." At this moment, Qiao Mo didn't have the heart to talk about anything else, so he sat down with him and asked about his itinerary.

Lin Zheng then told the whole story.

Lin Zheng didn't think that this was the intention of keeping the affairs of the state secret from him. Firstly, Qiao Mo was tight-lipped, knowing the seriousness of the matter and would not talk nonsense. If you have an idea, speaking it out can not only relieve his worries, but also listen to his analysis.Although Lin Zheng had never been an official, he occasionally had a keen intuition. Coupled with the things he brought back this time, he knew very well that the affairs of the North Land were not over, but had just begun.

After listening to his story, Qiao Mo really understood the danger of the trip.

The Northland was originally not like the current Dynasty, with very different climate, customs, language habits, etc. In addition, although the two countries were open for business, the Northland was not so welcoming to outsiders.Zhao Chang was the leader of the team. He took a group of ten of them as a caravan for maintenance, and entered the Northland first. The first few days went smoothly, even if they encountered a pack of wolves, there was no danger.The wolf skins sent back as an annual gift were obtained under such circumstances. Zhao Chang mainly dealt with the wolves above, and in addition to taking care of other people, Lin Zhenghun had the most.

Two days later, the weather changed suddenly, the wind was strong, and the horses were startled by rolling up stones.Two cars were galloped by the frightened horses. Lin Zheng and the two men chased after them, but unexpectedly they got lost.

After that, another person died. Lin Zheng and another person named Yang Fei walked in the wilderness for two or three days, and finally heard the sound of horseshoes in the distance.The two followed the sound, and it turned out that the nobles of the Northland were hunting. Later, Lin Zheng found out that the hunter was King Zuoxian of the Northland.

The regime in the Northland is mainly composed of the central royal court, the Left Wise King in the east, and the Right Wise King in the west. Qiao Mo chatted with the locals, and keenly sensed that there seemed to be signs of disagreement between the three highest powers in the Northland.After several considerations, Lin Zheng finally decided to start with Zuo Xianwang.

After more than three months of hard work, Lin Zheng not only understood the situation in the North, but also obtained an additional letter from Zuo Xianwang to the emperor.After the matter was completed, Lin Zheng and Yang Fei hurriedly started to leave the Northland, but they didn't know if the news had leaked, but something went wrong when they were about to leave the Northland, and they were stopped by a checkpoint.Lin Zheng had a letter from Zuo Xianwang hidden in his body, so he didn't dare to have someone search him at all, so he had to force his way in.Afterwards, although he left the Northland smoothly, Yang Fei was seriously injured, so for the time being, Zhao Chang took care of him and stayed in Jincheng to recuperate, while he hurried back.

"By the way, Ah Zheng, do you have a tail behind you on your way back to Beijing?" Qiao Mo was very concerned about this.

Lin Zheng frowned deeply: "It was safe when I first escaped from the Northland, but something went wrong within half a day. There seemed to be more abnormal people in Jincheng. I didn't dare to stay longer, so I left quickly. Although I didn't run into those people head-on I went up, but I always felt that they were coming for me, but fortunately, the way back was calm."

"That's good." This meant that the people behind the scenes didn't know that Lin Zheng was back, otherwise they would definitely set up an ambush on the way to Beijing.

Then Lin Zheng asked him about the big and small things during this period of time. When Qiao Mo talked about it, it was inevitable that he would mention Situ Xuan, King of Kang County, and talk about the tragic events in the past.

Lin Zheng became more and more uneasy when he heard that he was going to the county prince's mansion, and his face changed slightly: "How can I do that? I knew he was uneasy and had good intentions, but what should I do if something happened? I have heard about this county prince before. , the master also said that this person is unfathomable, not as simple as he looks on the outside. Ah Mo, find an excuse to decline, even if the other party is suspicious."

In fact, Qiao Mo didn't plan to go. The reason why he didn't completely refuse was because the identity of the other party was in the way.But in general, Qiao Mo also felt that he couldn't put himself in danger, there was really a just in case...