From passive to active, Shen Lie's arms wrapped around the girl's body.
Wearing thick winter clothes, Shen Liejin wore a large sable fur coat, and being tall, Xia Zhaoyi seemed to be completely trapped in his broad arms, surrounded by his warmth from all directions.
An indescribable strange emotion made Xia Zhaoyi slightly raise her eyebrows. She moved her fingertips, trying to push the man away to avoid this strange feeling. However, when she raised her hand, it inexplicably turned into He hugged the other person and patted him on the back gently as if to comfort him.
The wind and snow roared in her ears, and through the thick clothes, she seemed to be able to hear the man's powerful but chaotic heartbeat.
The sound of the heartbeat attracted her attention, and as she listened, her own heartbeat became chaotic.
Shen Lie lowered his head, he was much taller than the girl, his back was slightly arched, his smooth and white cheek was pressed against her hair, and the fragrance of her hair was closer and clearer than ever before.
He closed his eyes and didn't hold her for long before letting go.
Xia Zhaoyi's eyes were like paint, and she raised her eyebrows to look at him.
"Ah Li, thank you." Shen Lie whispered.
Xia Zhaoyi nodded, slightly twitching the corners of his lips, smiling slightly, and suddenly didn't know what to say.
Leaving the foot of the mountain and walking to the northwest open space, we set foot on the road built by Xia Zhaoyi and his men.
The wind and snow covered the newly turned soil, and the ground was smooth and neat. The grass and trees on both sides were cut down, leaving a long and open road more than four feet wide.
You can often see long slabs of stone driven into the ground, like patches on the ground.
Xia Zhaoyi looked at the stone slabs and said: "I originally wanted to cover the entire road with these stone slabs, but it is winter and there is not enough time, so I can only use them to repair some potholes and subsidences. But the road is dead. People are alive, so first build a passable road, send a few batches of food, grass and clothing there, and then you can take your time in the rest of the time."
"If there is a shortage of manpower, I can dispatch from the south at any time." Shen Lie said.
"That's not necessary," Xia Zhaoyi smiled, "the secret guards brought by Brother Du have helped me the most, and the time when I was most short of manpower has passed. Now they are all experienced people. Hey, "Xia Zhaoyi looked forward, his eyes brightened, "They saw us."
Facing the strong wind and heavy snow, nearly a hundred men in the distance were still working on large and small mechanical wooden beds.
I don't know who said that Miss Ali was back, and the men heard the sound and looked behind them.
"Let's go!" Xia Zhaoyi smiled at Shen Lie and drove his horse forward.
"Miss Ali!"
"Miss Ali, look at how fast we are! You were still in Wuhuaerlin when you left, and now we are almost at Haian Ridge!"
"If it hadn't been for the heavy snow, we would have been faster!"
The men came forward and rushed to talk.
"Master?!" Wu Shaoning and other secret guards saw Shen Lie from a distance and shouted happily, running towards him quickly, "Master, you are really here!!!"
Du Xuan had mentioned it to them before, but they all thought it was impossible.
Following their words, everyone looked at the man coming behind Xia Zhaoyi, and their eyes lit up.
"Miss Ah Li," a man said in a low voice, "this man is so handsome!"
"It seems that Mr. Du Xuan didn't lie to us!"
Xia Zhaoyi smiled and looked around: "Where's Brother Du."
"He was sleeping. He looked at the route construction drawings all night yesterday!"
Xia Zhaoyi nodded and looked back at Shen Lie: "Brother Du is sleeping, let's call him."
"I'll do it," Shen Lie said, "Since you've been away for the past few days, you'll be busy when you come back. You go ahead and do your work."
"Okay, then you go find him."
Xia Zhaoyi led these men to build roads. They would set up tents and sleep wherever they were built. If the road section was bad, they would even build wooden houses on site.
The north wind blew loudly on the roof of the tent, and Du Xuan's snoring was very loud, penetrating through the tent, as if trying to compete with the cold wind.
Shen Lie led people into the tent and did not disturb him at all. Instead, he saw him sleeping boldly and drooling profusely, which was far from his usual gentle and elegant appearance.
Kang Jian and Wu Shaoning looked at Shen Lie, who had a calm expression. Kang Jian stepped forward and gently pushed Du Xuan.
Du Xuan was really tired, and it took him a long time to open his eyes. When he saw Shen Lie, Du Xuan thought he was dreaming, and it took him a while to wake up.
Taking the warm water from Wu Shaoning, Du Xuan ran outside to rinse his mouth. After spitting several times, he came back and drank two more bowls. Then he looked at Shen Lie and raised his hand: "I didn't expect that the young master would come directly. That’s it! So, the young master went to Congxin Mansion?”
Shen Lie was looking at the messy clothes in the tent. Hearing this, he turned around and said, "Well, I went to Qingxiang Village first, and then to Congxin."
"The inn you bought is good," Xu Li said immediately, "That's where we met Miss Ali."
"That inn," Du Xuan smiled naively, "I don't know what that inn looks like. I sent Guo Ze to buy it."
"It's very good," Shen Lie said, "I've worked hard for you these days."
"No, you can learn so much from being with Ah Li, and you will benefit a lot, and you won't feel it's hard at all!" After saying that, Du Xuan said, "Ah, by the way, Master, you came at the right time, I have something to say. I’m looking for you! Do you still remember that after we came out of Yongwu City in Huazhou, we encountered a group of soldiers who wanted to attack Wuqu?”
Shen Lie nodded.
"We thought they were enemies, but we didn't expect them to be Zheng Guogong's soldiers and horses!" Du Xuan said, "It's Zhao Mingyue from the Twelve Prefectures of Zhengbei!"
Shen Lie frowned: "It's them."
"Because we attacked them and one of the generals was injured, Zhao Xun wrote to Ah Li and said a lot of bad things about us! The letter is still with me!"
Kang Jian said: "But if I remember correctly, we and Zheng Bei have never had any interests involved, and we are not enemies, let alone friends. We meet on a narrow road at night, and we fight for our lives. Even if we hurt their people, it is reasonable. misunderstanding."
"Having said that, Zhao Yu's temperament is really eccentric. Master, do you still remember this person?" Du Xuan said.
Wu Shaoning thought for a while and said, "Young Master, I said that the relationship between Zheng Guo Gong and Ding Guo Gong is indeed very good."
After a while of silence, Shen Lie said lightly: "Fake."
"What?"
"Xia... Zhaoyi, she and Zhao Gong have never had any relationship, but why did you read A Li's letter so casually?" Shen Lie looked at Du Xuan.
"No, no, I didn't mean it!" Du Xuan said hurriedly, "I thought it was written to me. This letter was handed over to Wang Fengnian by Zhao Ning and then sent to Qingxiang Village. It was sent together with my letter at that time , and the envelope was only signed with the word "Zhao Xun" without mentioning the recipient. After I opened it, I found that the first sentence did not have a title at the beginning, it was directly a love poem, and then it was like seeing the letter in person. , I think about it deeply, and there is no name for it." Du Xuan stopped and said solemnly, "Master, he spoke extremely unfavorably about us in the letter, and also mentioned the incident in Jiangzhou. His words were really vicious, mean, and extremely unpleasant to listen to. I'm afraid that when Ah Li sees this letter, she will..."
Shen Lie said in a deep voice: "The Twelve Palaces of Zhengbei are far to the north of Yong'an Imperial Capital. Why did Zheng Guogong's soldiers and horses come to Huazhou in the south?"
"Well."
"Yes," Wu Shaoning said, "This is the key point. Going south from the Imperial Capital, dozens of states in the middle were divided up by Song Zhiyi, Tian Dayao, and Yun Bozhong. In addition to Dazhou Province, there are also thousands of mountains, forests and rivers. , and the soldiers and horses of Zheng Bei came to attack Wuqu in Huazhou? Even if they capture it, how can they defend it? Is it possible that they will be trapped like Zhao Ming in Peifeng, unable to move? "
"Send the letter to Ah Li later," Shen Lie looked at Du Xuan, "tell her truthfully that you have read it."
"...I want to give it to her." Du Xuan looked aggrieved.
"I have never touched the content of this letter," Shen Lie emphasized. "You have to tell her too, just say that I am not afraid to read it."
Du Xuan smiled: "Hey, young master, you are concerned about your own image."
Shen Lie ignored it and continued: "You write another letter in my name and send it to Zheng Bei, then say that I, Shen Lie, will dare next time."
"Young Master, are you going to make this mistake?" Wu Shaoning said.
"Tell them," Shen Lie's voice turned cold, "Either Zhao Xuan apologizes to me personally, or their soldiers and horses should not be encountered by me south of Yong'an. I have no ambition to conquer the world, but their ambition must not be realized. .”
