Shen Lie's fingers stroked the smooth bark, which was a neat and neat cut. Du Xuan knew some swordsmanship, but he definitely did not have such fine skills.
He brushed off all the sand and gravel on the tree bark. It was indeed Du Xuan's handwriting and there was no mistake.
After confirming it, Shen Lie did not hesitate anymore and burned it with fire. When he lowered his eyes and watched the bark of the tree being swallowed by the fire, his mind realized that the knife on Deputy Lieutenant Lin's neck might have been made by the same person, Du Xuan. Maybe he was saved by an expert.
When the bark of the tree was burned away, he stood up and left, heading towards Songzhou.
Du Xuan didn't know who he was with, but Dai Yu was at least safe for the time being.
The only worry left in Shen Lie's heart was that the person who saved Du Xuan had other agendas.
After all, he has suffered too many losses like this in his life.
Liuguili is in Fushang County, southwest of Songzhou. It is the most critical step in the escape route planned by the Ji family. Hundreds of people arranged by Guo Yu have been on standby in Liuguili.
But when the Ji family first fled from Guangzhuo, they were completely unable to adapt to the change. They were afraid of walking and hesitated, and heavy rains caused water to accumulate along the road, making the terrain difficult to travel. Finally, the Ji family unknowingly ended up in the northern part of Songzhou.
Coincidentally, the manpower Shen Lie had prepared to deal with Guo Yu were also arranged in Liugui.
There was supposed to be a reckoning, but who would have thought that the changes would come to the Ji family.
The river wind was blowing hard, and Shen Lie headed south along the deserted riverside. The wind was getting tight right now, so he could only stay away from the official roads and major passes where the army was stationed.
On the other side of the mountains behind him, Xia Zhaoyi was also riding a horse, but her horse stopped on the mountainside.
There were soldiers and horses everywhere in the wilderness. Xia Zhaoyi looked solemnly, looking towards Kaiping Post in the distance.
The wind blew in the wilderness, and after the moisture receded, the wind carried the warmth of spring throughout the wilderness and suburbs of the city.
The field of view was too broad, so she could clearly see how many soldiers and horses there were. Such a scale could not be achieved overnight, nor could it be achieved by local coordination. There should be someone with absolute authority controlling the situation here.
The Ji family may be able to escape from the Daping Dynasty, but after escaping, they may become a hot potato that no one will dare to take in.
As for Shen Lie, will the Guo family throw the blame on him?
At the moment, she didn't know where Shen Lie was. Xia Zhaoyi couldn't decide whether he should go to Songzhou or go to Bajiang Lake nearby, or whether something had happened to Shen Lie and he had been taken away.
Xia Zhaoyi took a deep breath, familiarized himself with the terrain below, tightened the reins, and turned around to walk down the mountain road on the other side.
If Shen Lie goes to Bajianghu, Dai Yu and others will discuss the situation with him, and then Shen Lie will be safe.
If Shen Lie had been captured, there would be no way to save him, so she could only prepare a thick coffin.
The only place left that can be visited now is Songzhou.
But before going, she felt she had to do something small.
So two hours later, Xia Zhaoyi wore the armor of a thin soldier who had been robbed by her because she was alone, and galloped towards Songzhou against the officers and soldiers coming north on the official road.
When a senior official stopped her, she scolded her, saying that the military situation was important, and left in a hurry.
At night, she slept comfortably in a small inn. The next day, she walked into Songzhou under the strong sunshine, and then drove all day long before arriving at Fushang County in Liuguili.
After taking off her heavy armor, she found a farmer's house outside the village and bought a pair of clean cloth clothes. Her fair complexion was made haggard by her, and she began to wander around Fushang County like an old farming woman.
Shen Lie definitely wanted her to come quickly, so Xia Zhaoyi followed Du Xuan's example and left a lot of obvious marks outside the city, but after an hour passed, she left the county and was going to find a place in the village to enter. While staying there, she accidentally discovered that the two marks she had made had been dug up.
Xia Zhaoyi frowned, then quietly walked over all the places she had marked.
She made a total of eight marks, which were widely distributed and far apart. There were 500 steps between the two nearest marks.
But these eight marks, which she could see from a distance, were all dug out.
Xia Zhaoyi estimated the time. She came from the official road unscrupulously and ran all the way, but Shen Lie would definitely have to get here at noon tomorrow.
Only she can come here so boldly, and Shen Lie can meet this condition.
Because this kind of messenger unit does not need someone as big as Shen Lie.
So, who dug it?
Xia Zhaoyi took a deep breath and turned back to the county seat.
Although Fushang County was a border town for the Daping Dynasty, for the entire Central Plains, Fushang County was accessible from the south to the north.
The street was crowded with people, and Xia Zhaoyi walked around for a while, and finally pretended to buy wine and walked towards the Fuquan Inn she had written on the note.
She ordered eight taels of rice wine and sat by the window to wait. She waited for a long time without any movement.
The business of the inn was good or not, but she kept occupying seats like this. The waiter couldn't bear it anymore and came over and said, "Sir, your wine has been prepared for you, why are you still sitting here?"
"How much does it cost to rent this location?" Xia Zhaoyi asked in a rough voice.
"Rent, location?"
"Rent for two days," Xia Zhaoyi said, putting down two dollars on the table, "Can I trouble you to get some paper and pen?"
The clerk's eyes lit up, he realized that two cents of silver was worth more than half a month's wages.
He claimed that it was not easy to make the decision, so he hurriedly went back to find the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper didn't understand what was going on, so out of curiosity, he asked him to get some paper and pen.
But I saw this yellow-faced old village girl pick up her pen, and the few lines of ink she dropped were written horizontally and vertically, which showed the style of everyone.
This word can be written...
The shopkeeper chanted word by word: "Whoever dug up my mark, come out and confront me."
"This..." The shopkeeper scratched his head.
"Just post it here," Xia Zhaoyi raised her head, "Just leave it here for the next few days."
"This..." the shopkeeper was confused, "I don't know what you are going to do."
"Here's the silver." Xia Zhaoyi stood up and pushed forward the two coins that the waiter had taken away. "I'd like to bother the shopkeeper."
After saying that, she picked up the wine bottle on the table and left the inn.
After walking around the street again, Xia Zhaoyi finally stopped beside a river.
Speaking of Fushang County, she did have an old friend.
When my father was still alive, he had an old friend who was a very elegant man. He was nicknamed the Old Fox. His specialty was selling people and having them count the money for him.
He is good at poetry, music, chess, growing flowers and scenting, and is also good at delivering babies and looking after babies...
Xia Zhaoyi suddenly wondered whether he should pay a visit.
It's better to choose a different day than to hit it. She didn't really want to drink the bottle of wine in her hand, so she just went to find him.
But, where does the family live?
An hour later, a warm-hearted sister-in-law took Xia Zhaoyi to a large pig-raising house outside the city.
Mr. Liu He, who was stinking all over, walked out of the backyard and his eyes fell on Xia Zhaoyi: "Who in your family is having difficulty giving birth?"
