The Sujin Building in the south of Kelan City was used as a shop sign, and it was rustling in the wind. The handwriting was mottled and light, and it looked quite old.
Sujin Building is not a luxurious restaurant or tea shop. The shop building facing the street is divided into two floors. The bottom floor is elevated by dozens of wooden pillars. Together with the yard behind it, it is full of mules, horses and other livestock for trading. It is very noisy - Chen
Zixiao walked out of the inn, changed into casual clothes, and saw a dozen men with deep eyebrows trading mules and horses downstairs in Sujin. He took a fancy to a yellow-brown horse with strong four hooves and strong bones, and walked over to look for it.
Horse owner inquires.
During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Guanluan Mountain and the Great Bend of the Yellow River to the west were the lands of the Linhuloufan tribe. Later, five tribes of the Southern Xiongnu moved here, including the Turks, Wuhuan, Xianbei, Xi tribes, and the Shatuo tribe.
, resulting in a mixed pattern of local vassals and Han people in Lanzhou. People with deep eyebrows like this are very common in northern border states such as Lanzhou.
In addition to many Lanzhou villagers having mixed ancestry, many people also retain the lifestyle customs of the feudal lord and like to raise horses.
The mule and horse trade in Daizhou and the border states on Hebei Road mainly involves officials trading horses with the Khitan people through border markets. In comparison, the private mule and horse trade in Lanzhou is much more prosperous.
Chen Zixiao walked around the yellow-brown horse twice and saw that there was no suspicious person waiting on either side. He chatted with the owner of the horse for a few words before walking up the corroded wooden stairs to the second floor.
The ground floor is a mule and horse market, and the second floor also sells tea, wine and food. Naturally, there is no elegant room for guests to have banquets. There are dozens of square tables in the hall, which is quite messy - the rough wooden floor creaks under the feet.
Noisy, you can also hear the whistling of mules and horses on the ground floor, the sound of trading conversations, and a strong fishy smell.
There were a dozen diners sitting around the table on the second floor. They were all border people and herdsmen with rough looks and vulgar temperaments. Many of them carried swords with them.
Chen Zixiao walked to a square table by the window and sat alone, taking off his sword and placing it on the table.
He has a strong build, with an extra beard on his cheeks, making his whole person look more rugged; there are criss-crossing faint scars on his cheeks and the arms with his sleeves rolled up; none of the tough-minded border residents would mess with such a ruthless person.
Chen Zixiao asked for a pot of coarse tea, two kilograms of wheat cakes, and two kilograms of donkey meat. He sat by the window and slowly ate two sticks of incense, but no one came over to share the table with him.
Chen Zixiao ate two kilograms of wheat cakes and two kilograms of donkey meat. He also used his fingers to twist up the crumbs of cakes that fell on the table and robes and ate them one by one.
"You're sitting alone, why don't you order a bottle of wine?" Just when Chen Zixiao couldn't bear his temper and was about to leave, he saw an overly handsome young scholar coming over and sitting down opposite.
Chen Zixiao's eyes suddenly narrowed and he suppressed the shock in his heart.
He ignored the handsome scholar's conversation, took off his money bag from his waist, counted out enough money and waved to his assistant to come and count it. Then he picked up his sword, turned around and walked downstairs.
At this time, a carriage was parked at the entrance of the alley east of Sujin Building. Chen Zixiao stared at the secret mark on the shaft of the carriage for a while, making sure that there was nothing abnormal on the left and right, and walked straight into the alley for seven or eight steps before turning around and boarding the carriage.
.
The carriage was wide, and in addition to the coachman sitting on the shaft, there were two other people waiting inside the carriage.
Chen Zixiao stared at one of them sternly, stretched out his hand, grabbed the man's throat like an iron hook, and growled: "You dare to seek death, do you really think I dare not execute you..."
"I ordered Han Lurong to stay in the carriage and wait. I will go see you. If you have any temper, you can express it to me." The handsome scholar followed closely and boarded the carriage, saying in a cold voice.
"Han Lun did not dare to be angry with the princess - Han Lurong failed to persuade the princess and put the princess' body in danger, which is a crime worthy of death." Chen Zixiao suppressed the anger in his heart and said.
"If I told you that I am now the director of the southwest room of the Gengjin Hall, what else would you say?" The handsome scholar stared at Chen Zixiao coldly and asked.
"...What happened in Beijing? Han Lurong didn't mention anything last time." Chen Zixiao let go of his hand and asked in shock.
"You have been sneaking across the border for three years, but no news has come back. Four months ago, you suddenly contacted Sujinlou in Lanzhou. Who knows what happened to you in Yueting? I don't even know whether you can be trusted, Han Lurong.
How can I tell you everything down to the smallest detail?" The handsome scholar said, "I spent a lot of effort to verify your current situation, but now I can tell you something: My brother can't beat Xiao Qixue, and he was defeated.
I was demoted to Shuozhou and served as a horse herding officer. It was very boring for me to stay in Beijing, so I accepted the assignment from the southwest room of Gengjin Hall and came to the southwest with my brother to serve..."
"Master Lin Shi is in Shuozhou?" Chen Zixiao asked in surprise, "Did Master Lin Shi have a premonition that the Vietnamese army would send troops from Dailan, so he invited himself to serve in Shuozhou?"
"Who knows what he is thinking? I am not a roundworm in his belly. He keeps talking all day long and doesn't tell me anything." The handsome scholar curled his lips.
"Sujin Tower is a mixed bag, a place full of feudal lords, and vulgar people from the market. This is also the best way to hide it, but Princess, you are so dressed up. If you fall into the eyes of someone with a heart, it will be too easy to be spied on."
His whereabouts have been uncovered. How could Lord Lin Shi allow the princess to risk his life and come to Lanzhou so easily?" Chen Zixiao was still dissatisfied with the handsome scholar's behavior and did not forget to remind him of insinuations.
"The Yue court is even more unbearable than our dynasty. The heavily guarded border states are leaky like a sieve. It would be like entering a deserted land for us. You are now a thief general recruited by the Yue court. Do you really think that nothing will happen to anyone?"
Staring at you all day?" The handsome scholar said impatiently, "It has been four months since the last contact and you just showed up again. Do you have any important news to report?"
"In addition to Guo Zhongxiong serving as a servant, he was ordered to go to Lanzhou and preside over the military and political affairs here. Cai Qing also secretly sneaked to Lanzhou with the so-called Tiger Marquis Yue Hailou, the former Jingsheng Army capital -
I was lucky enough to meet Yue Hailou yesterday, and I heard people around him accidentally mention that Cai Qing might personally supervise the battle in Lanzhou at any time. This shows that Yue Ting is very likely to directly mobilize troops from Linfu and other places to Lanzhou, directly along the
Huihe River invades our court, so we must guard against it when we go to Beijing."
Chen Zixiao said,
"There is another most urgent matter, and that is that the former imperial censor of Yue Dynasty, Zhongcheng Wang Zhen, who was demoted to be the supervisor of Lanzhou Stone Field, and his followers are not willing to be suppressed by Cai Qing, their political enemy. They may use grain in four days.
In order to force Guo Zhongxiong and other Cai people to give up their control of the Lanzhou stone field, I encouraged the prisoners in the prison camps in Lanzhou and the Xiang army generals to make noises. I thought to myself, if there is a mutiny in Lanzhou because of this, the Vietnamese army invades us.
The North Korean plan is very likely to be slowed down. I wonder how many people the princess will mobilize to sneak into the vicinity of Lanzhou in four days to deal with it?"
"Under the command of the Southwest Road Recruitment Division, the imperial army, vassal troops, and Bohai Navy are all under the command of the Tongjun Division, while the Han army and rural soldiers are under the command of the commanders of the horse and infantry armies. Do you think the Southwest Fang can really mobilize hundreds of troops?
Thousands of men and horses will fall into my control?" said the handsome scholar, "I might as well tell you that the Han people we bribed in the Han Dynasty, regardless of the feudal lords, we can really use only four of them with confidence.
Fifty people, half of whom are still lurking in places such as Arashidai and Xinhe..."
"How can we mobilize so many manpower?" Chen Zixiao asked in disbelief, "Can Lord Lin Shi mobilize some manpower?"
"My brother is worse than the Wang Zhen you mentioned. How many people do you think he can mobilize to cooperate with you?" said the handsome scholar.
"Lord Lin Shi must have a way to deal with it, and no matter whether the roar can be successful or not in four days, Yue Ting is likely to conduct a large-scale search and arrest in Lanzhou. The princess should return to Lord Lin Shi as soon as possible and report the situation one by one.
"Chen Zixiao said.
"I need you to teach me how to do things?" The handsome scholar stared at Chen Zixiao, dissatisfied with the aggressive attitude in his tone.
Chen Zixiao looked at Han Lurong and asked, "If you encounter an urgent emergency, has Master Lin Shi told you what to do?"
"If the situation is urgent, I will escort the princess to leave and cross the border quickly." Han Lurong said.
"What do you mean? You need to find out who is in charge of Southwest House. I am not my brother's puppet!" Scholar Toshiro shouted dissatisfied.
"Princess, please calm down," Han Lurong knocked on the carriage wall and ordered the coachman on the shaft, "When you go to Kusang Lane, remember to take two more laps..."
"Where is Kumulang Lane? We have a secret house there?" the handsome scholar asked.
"Master Lin Shi is also in Lanzhou?" Chen Zixiao lowered his voice and asked Han Lurong in surprise.
"What?" the handsome scholar asked, "My brother is in Lanzhou, how could I not know? Who do you think I am?"
The carriage drove around twice in the messy streets of Kelan City to make sure there were no suspicious people waiting on either side before turning into Kusang Alley - Han Lurong, the handsome scholar, and Chen Zixiao entered an inconspicuous house, and the carriage continued from there.
Drive out of Kumulang Alley at the other end.
In the courtyard, a middle-aged scribe who was less than forty years old was sitting under a locust tree, holding a book in his hand. The handsome scholar walked in and was so angry that he stepped forward and kicked the bench under the middle-aged scribe's buttocks.
Shi Ran, a middle-aged scribe with an elegant appearance, stood up and said, "Why are you so angry? Why are you so angry at me when you are so powerful?"
"Why am I so angry? What do you think I am?" the handsome scholar shouted.
"You have been in charge of the southwest wing of the Gengjin Pavilion for more than a year. What matters are not decided by you?" said the middle-aged scribe. "The Vietnamese army is about to invade the north. We say that there are tens of thousands of troops that can be assembled near Xijing, but
The Han army, the Bohai Navy, and the feudal vassal army were so poor in combat effectiveness that they were far inferior to the Vietnamese army. There were only over ten thousand cavalrymen in the imperial army who were capable of fighting. I was worried, so I ran over to take a look. What was wrong?
"The middle-aged scribe asked pretending to be confused.
"Why did Han Lurong know about your coming to Lanzhou, but I didn't?" said the handsome scholar.
"You haven't learned how to be patient. If I restrain you, you will definitely not be convinced, but you can't let you make any noise in Lanzhou and cause us brothers and sisters to be caught by the Yue court, right?" the middle-aged scribe said,
"That's why I told Han Lurong not to tell you my whereabouts. You do your thing, and I'll just pop over quietly to take a look and leave without disturbing you..."
