That night, everyone stayed again inside and outside a deserted, seemingly abandoned inn; the inn was spacious but could not accommodate all the grain trucks, so the soldiers could only remain stationed outside the inn.
The inn here has not been damaged. Although it is a little dilapidated, it is due to disrepair. There are no traces of blood on the walls and floors that can prove that something happened here. The ground is dirty, but the handrails of the stairs and the interior of each room are clean.
Fang Qi also specially touched the handrail of the stairs. He raised his hand and looked at it. There was only a slight bit of dust. It was obvious that someone had done hygiene here as recently as yesterday or the day before yesterday.
The things in the kitchen can also prove this. The rice jars and large cans of flour are half full, and the condiments on the stove, which are only slightly dusty, are also half full.
It's the seventeenth now, and the supplies at the inn usually come at the beginning or end of the month. These things in the kitchen are just in line with the fact that the people at the inn have just left.
Moreover, they left in such a hurry that they even forgot to take away the food.
In times of disaster, food is more useful than money.
This is even more obvious in the guest rooms: the quilts in many rooms are messy; the tea on the table has signs of use, and some cups fell to the ground and broke into pieces; some soldiers even found money in the guest rooms.
Bags and official robes of court officials.
Fang Qi slipped around and returned to the hall, and reported to Qi Kang'an, who was having dinner at the only occupied table in the hall:
"General, I don't know what happened here. I can confirm that everyone left in a hurry. There should be no casualties."
Just like if there is something urgent that affects the lives of all the people in the station, you don't want any extraneous things, and run away first.
only···
"There are no footprints visible outside the inn. It rained the day before yesterday, so the traces outside the inn should have been washed away by the rain. However, the footprints inside the inn are well preserved. They all went outwards, and no one entered the inn later.
trace."
This is what makes people feel weird. They were so scared that they all ran away without wanting anything. As a result, after they ran away, no one came back to the inn?
Is it possible that the criminals were waiting outside the inn from the beginning, and then they chased the people after they left the inn?
Isn't this sick?
At this time, Zheng Haoran also ran over wiping his sweat and presented a cloth bag with both hands, "General, please take a look."
Oh my God, something big has happened.
Qi Kang'an did not pick up the cloth bag immediately, but glanced at Zheng Haoran first. After seeing the solemn look on his face, he also darkened his face.
He carefully took the cloth bag and opened it on the table.
The object is a set of cotton clothes worn by men.
The inner garment is nothing special and very ordinary. What is special is the gilt token placed on the inner garment.
——On the front is a big Chinese character [Qi], and on the back are two flowers that look like lotus but not lotus, and look like chrysanthemum but not chrysanthemum.
"This is?"
Zheng Haoran: "If I remember correctly, this is the token in General Wei's hand that can mobilize the powerful army."
"General Qi? Is this the missing General Qi?"
Zheng Haoran nodded affirmatively, "The generals and other generals must memorize the tiger-laying and troop-mobilizing orders of each army before, so that they will not admit their mistakes."
Fang Qi also echoed: "General, what Haoran said is true. This is the token in General Qi's hand."
But, why is General Qi's token here?
"Haoran, where did you find this cloth bag? Was the token in the cloth bag at that time??"
"In the guest room at the end of the third floor, there was nothing in the room. I found this under the bed; the token was wrapped in the underwear and hidden in the gap between the bed boards. The cloth bag outside was
I pulled the tablecloth."
Qi Baoer, who had been listening silently for a while, touched his chin, "In other words, the missing General Qi once appeared in this inn, maybe a day or two ago, maybe even earlier;
Maybe someone came here just for his token, or maybe he felt that his life safety was threatened and protected the token first;
Regardless of the situation, one thing is certain: General Qi's situation at that time was not optimistic."
This view was unanimously recognized by everyone. Qi Kangan pointed to the empty seat next to him and motioned for Fang Qi and Zheng Haoran to sit down and eat first.
It was already seven o'clock in the evening when they arrived at the inn, and all of them must have gone crazy with hunger.
Fang Qi and Zheng Haoran were not polite, but when they saw Qi Bao'er touching her chin, they both knew she was thinking, so they sat down as silently as possible and started eating by themselves.
After a while, Qi Baoer continued: "I personally think that it is more likely that someone will go after General Qi's token. If this is the case, then General Qi should still be alive now.
We cannot rule out the possibility that someone is simply chasing General Qi, but this is very unlikely;
According to the local memorial, General Qi and others had an incident in Jiangzhou;
But according to what Magistrate Yue County said, something happened in Haizhou;
However, no matter whether it is in Jiangzhou or Haizhou, if someone wants to kill Mr. Qi, General Qi is second only to Zhao Dexuan in terms of military force value in the court, which shows that his strength is outstanding. If you want to kill him, you must be a master.
And there are more than just one or two, how could it be possible for General Qi to easily escape here?"
Zheng Haoran understood clearly, "What the princess means, their purpose is to go for the token? But, why didn't those people just take down General Qi and search him?"
Wouldn't that be simpler?
Fang Qi slapped the back of his head, "It has been more than twenty years since the Huwei Army was handed over to General Qi. In these years, it is impossible that no one wants to get General Qi's token, and General Qi has also
It is impossible not to guard against this; do you think they can find the token on General Qi even if he is captured?"
The fact that the token is now in front of them is proof. How could General Qi keep the token with him when he was in danger?
Digging a hole anywhere is better than putting it on your body.
General Qi does not have a token on him. Even if he is caught, he will be tortured, but his life is absolutely safe.
It's a double insurance.
Fang Qi: "However, the token was hidden a bit hastily. If the postman of the post station were to clean it, wouldn't it be discovered?"
Qi Kang'an shook his head and glanced at the two lieutenants with a 'you don't understand' look, "You are all from a wealthy family, and you still don't know enough about the common people. Whether you are a postman or a waiter in an ordinary inn, when you clean the bathroom, you are like under the bed.
The corners of closets and other places that are hard to notice are rarely cleaned."
Having said that, Qi Kang'an doesn't think this is what General Qi has in mind. The real reason should be...
The father and daughter looked at each other and said in unison: "It's too late."
Fang Qi, who had just taken a bite of rice: "...??"
Zheng Haoran, who was picking up vegetables: "......???"
Qi Kang'an: "It should be that the time to hide the token for General Qi is very short."
The situation at that time was that either the person pursuing him was nearby, or he sensed danger around him.
At this time, King Li hurriedly ran down the stairs. When he went down the stairs, he almost slipped and rolled down the rest of the pavilion because of his anxiety.
